Like Father, Like Daughter
by ACCOUNT HAS BEEN TERMINATED
Summary: FINAL CHAPTER ADDED! SEQUEL TO DISTRACTIONS! As Lightning's racing career comes to a close, his daughter's begins, but Rayne soon realizes being the first female racer is harder than it seems. Lightning's POV.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

**A/N: Here it is!! ****The**** long awaited sequel! Also, many thanks to NikChik-11 for the support she offered! I posted this a little early for ya!!**

**Disclaimer: **No matter how many times I have to tell you, I DON'T OWN CARS!!!!!!!!!! Ok, I'm good…

Lightning McQueen headed into his last lap of the Dakota 500, neck and neck with his long-time rival, Chick Hicks. Lightning pressed his engine further and inched ahead of Chick.

"That's it, Kiddo!" said Doc Hudson, Lightning's trainer and crew chief. "Keep going!"

"I'm-trying!" Lightning panted.

"Don't try, do!" Doc replied through the intercom system.

Lightning pulled ahead of Chick further and headed into the last turn. He used the corner of the track as a slingshot and accelerated heading into the last stretch of the tedious race. He flew down the straight and finished the race ahead of Chick by at least two car lengths.

"Yes!" Lightning shouted.

"Great job, Rookie!" Doc said, sounding incredibly satisfied. "That's a great way to start a new season."

Lightning laughed. "Thanks," he said.

Lightning had just started his seventeenth season in the Piston Cup circuit. He was undefeated when it came to winning the championship for the last fifteen years.

Lightning drove into victory lane and accepted his award, grinning to his thousands of fans that had traveled from near and far to watch him race. He said a few words to the audience and drove back to his pit-area where Doc was already packing up their trailers.

"Good job, Rookie," Doc said. "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Doc," Lightning said, grinning. "But you can hardly call me a rookie anymore, can you?"

"The name sticks," Doc replied.

"I figured as much," Lightning said. He had been trying to dissuade Doc from using the nickname for about three years, but it never worked, and it probably never would. "I'm just ready to go home now."

"Ready to see two special some ones?" Doc asked, smiling over at Lightning.

"You could say that," Lightning said, returning the smile. He knew Doc was referring to Sally, his wife of almost sixteen years, and his daughter, Rayne, who was fifteen.

"I want to train Rayne," Doc said.

"She's a girl, Doc," Lightning said, putting some of his belongings in his trailer. "She won't race."

"Why not?" Doc asked. "She's got your speed and mentality, which I'm not sure is the greatest thing, but she would be an amazing racer!"

"Rayne would get hurt," Lightning said. "And Storm is going to cause problems."

Storm Hicks was Chick's son who was already known for causing problems in the junior leagues.

"She can take care of herself," Doc said. "She wants to race, Kiddo. Rayne will make history for being the first female racer."

"That's another reason I don't want her on the track," Lightning said. "It's a male-dominant sport. The other racers will be all over her!"

"Just think about it," Doc replied.

"I have," Lightning sighed. "I just don't want her to get in a wreck like I did."

Lightning was in a horrific wreck in his second season of racing that sidelined him for the rest of the year. It was still considered the worst wreck in racing history.

"I can't promise that," Doc said. "But a vast majority of cars get through their whole careers without being in a serious wreck."

"I know," Lightning said. "But I don't think Sally would like it that much either."

"Just talk it over with her," Doc said. "I think Rayne would love it. She's already a huge fan."

"I know she would love it," Lightning sighed. "It's just me that doesn't want her to."

"I know," Doc said. "But we'd put her into the Piston Cup Junior League before she goes into the Piston Cup circuit."

"I'll think about it," Lightning said uneasily. He wanted Rayne to do what she loved, but he was nervous about what it would lead to.

The next day, Lightning arrived in Radiator Springs, where he would be staying for three days before he left for his next race. He unloaded his trailer and drove to his house, which was situated next door to the Cozy Cone motel.

Lightning drove up onto the porch and through the front door. He smelled food cooking from the kitchen and drove into it to find Sally reading a cookbook.

"Hey," Lightning said.

"Hey!" Sally said, driving up to her husband and hugging him. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," Lightning said, kissing his wife. "Even though it was only a week."

"A week is a long time sometimes," Sally said. "Congratulations by the way."

"Oh, thanks," Lightning said, smiling, though the smile faded quickly. "Listen, Sally, we need to talk."

"About what?" Sally asked, a concerned expression on her face.

"Rayne," Lightning responded.

"What about her?" Sally asked.

"Doc wants her to race," Lightning sighed.

"As do I," Sally said.

"You too?" Lightning groaned. "I was hoping you were going to back me up against Doc!"

Sally laughed softly. "Of course I want her to race. It's in her blood. She's fast, smart, and she's the most hard-headed car I know, other than her father of course."

"True," Lightning agreed, smiling. "I'm just afraid she'll get hurt."

"Listen to you," Sally said, grinning. "That's probably the most hypocritical statement I have ever heard. It's normal to worry, believe me, but we don't want to be like your parents. She would probably run away to race like you did, and we don't need to have a dysfunctional family."

"That's true," Lightning said. "I didn't think about that. But I could never forgive myself if she got hurt."

"Don't I get a say in this?" came a voice from behind Lightning. Rayne McQueen drove through the kitchen door and parked beside her father. The lights from the kitchen reflected from her black paint with electric blue flames running down the side.

"Of course you do," Sally said. "You want to race, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Rayne said. "I've told dad that before. Do I get to race in the Piston Cup circuit?"

"Eventually," Lightning said quickly. "First, you have to qualify for it in the Piston Cup Junior League. Technically, you can't race in the Piston Cup circuit until you're-"

"Sixteen," Rayne interrupted. "I know, I know."

"I figured you did," Lightning said. "But I don't want you getting hurt like I did."

"Well, you were being stupid when you got hurt," Rayne said bluntly.

"Thanks," Lightning said, surprised at his daughter's lack of tact.

"Well you were," Rayne said. "You knew you shouldn't have taken that risk."

"She has a point," Sally said, smiling at her husband.

"Okay, okay," Lightning said. "Enough criticizing me. You have my temperament, Rayne. You could do the same thing."

"But I won't, Dad," Rayne insisted. "Please let me race."

"Okay," Lightning gave in. "But you're going to have to listen to Doc and me when you're training."

"Yes!" Rayne exclaimed. She threw herself upon his father, hugging him tightly. "Thanks, Dad!"

She began to leave the room before saying, "Oh yeah, good win yesterday!"

"Thanks, Hun," Lightning said, but Rayne was already gone.

"Do you think she'll make it to the Piston Cup?" Sally asked.

"Yes," Lightning said, frowning. "All I know is my racing days are numbered now."

"I didn't even think of that," Sally said. "Just tell her you're not ready to retire yet."

Lightning shrugged. "I'm almost thirty-seven years old, Sally," he said. "I'm getting to be old news in the racing industry."

"That's not true," Sally said. "You still have a lot left in you."

"Not that much," Lightning sighed. "My wreck is catching up with me. I've been getting sore more. I think it's just around retirement season anyway, even though I hate it."

"How many more seasons?" Sally asked quietly.

"This one," Lightning said. "I'm not racing against Rayne. That would be too weird."

Sally shook her head. "Rayne's career can wait," she said. "This is your time, not hers."

Lightning shrugged. "This season is Chick's last one because of Storm. He's Rayne's age."

Sally drove up to Lightning. "As long as you're sure," she said.

"I am," Lightning said. He kissed Sally and grinned pitifully. "I guess we're going to have to face it. The Lightning McQueen era is coming to a close."

"Well if Rayne doesn't make it to the Piston Cup circuit you can keep going," Sally said.

"Nah," Lightning said. "I don't want to race against Storm anyway. Can you imagine if he beat me in a race? Besides, I'm getting old, remember?"

"If you're getting old, what does that make me?" Doc asked, rolling into the McQueen's kitchen.

"Ancient," Lightning replied, grinning. "But we're letting Rayne race, and when she gets on the Piston Cup circuit next year, I'm retiring."

Doc nodded. "Smart choice," he said. "Does the kid know she can race?"

"Oh yeah," Lightning said. "I think the whole world knows by now."

Doc laughed. "She's excited, huh?" he asked.

"That's an understatement," Lightning said. He then frowned. "I'm going to miss it though."

Doc nodded. "I know how you feel."

"Fair point," Lightning said, nodding. "Do you honestly think Rayne will be a competitor in the Piston Cup?"

"We'll find out, won't we?" Doc asked. "I think so. She's a good mixture of you and Sally build-wise, which will make her more aerodynamic than you are. You have a top-of-the-line racing engine, and most cars inherit their engines from their fathers. As I said before, Rayne has your mentality, which is potentially problematic, but I'm fairly used to it by now."

Lightning laughed. "Yeah, but she's going to want to start training tomorrow bright and early."

"We can do that," Doc said. "You both have training tomorrow morning."

"Okay," Lightning said. "Does that mean I have to wake up earlier than usual?"

"I'll let you train after her, Sleeping Beauty," Doc said. "That way you'll have time to wake up."

"Fine," Lightning said. "Six on the practice track?"

"Sure," Doc said, heading out of the kitchen door.

"Bye, Doc," Lightning said.

"See you later, Rookie," Doc said.

"And I was looking forward to actually sleeping," Lightning sighed, leaning up against Sally.

Sally laughed and kissed his cheek. "I'm sorry," she said.

The next morning, Lightning's alarm went off at five-thirty. He groaned and slowly rolled out of bed, trying not to wake Sally, and into the shower. At five forty-five, Lightning rolled up the ramp that led to the second story of the house. Lightning rolled into Rayne's room and parked just inside the door.

"Come on, Miss Future Racecar!" Lightning called. "It's time to train!"

"I'm already ahead of you," came Rayne's voice from behind Lightning.

"Oh you are, huh?" Lightning asked, turning around to face his daughter.

"Yeah," Rayne said. "Which track are we using this morning? Willy's Butte or the practice track?"

"The practice track," Lightning responded. "We never really use Willy's Butte anymore. The footing's not very good."

After Lightning's fifth racing season, he built a small racing stadium for training purposes. It made training much more convenient .

"Okay," Rayne said. "Do you think I can beat Storm Hicks?"

"I think so," Lightning said. "But he is the champion of his division."

"For now," Rayne said confidently.

Lightning chuckled at his daughter's determined personality. "Yeah, for now," he said.

Ten minutes later, Lightning and Rayne arrived at the practice track. Doc was already on the track waiting for the McQueens.

"Okay, Kiddo," Doc called. "Come out on the track. We're working on endurance for now. After your warm-up, go around the track as many times as possible at top speed."

"Okay," Rayne called back. She drove onto the track and did a couple warm-up laps around the track before taking off at top speed.

"How good is her stamina?" Docs asked Lightning, watching Rayne drive into her corners and use them as slingshots down the long side of the track.

"Good," Lightning said. He watched as Rayne used another corner as a slingshot. "It took me forever to learn that move."

"Me too," Doc said. "She's small, so she's really fast too."

"If she's so small then why is she racing?" Lightning asked, watching his daughter rocket around the track again.

"Look at her. She's the best racer in training I've ever seen," Doc said.

"Seriously?" Lightning asked.

"Yeah," Doc said. "How good were you before you hit the Piston Cup circuit?"

"I was good, but not as good as she is," Lightning said. "My family hated racing, remembers? I could only train once a week."

Doc nodded. He watches as Rayne completed her twenty-fifth lap.

"We're going to be here a while, aren't we?" Doc asked.

"Yeah," Lightning said. "I know she can do at least three hundred laps."

"Have you had her out here training before?" Doc asked.

"No," Lightning answered. "She's not supposed to come out here alone, but I've caught her a few times. She did around three hundred laps each time."

Doc nodded. "I guess we'll be here a while," he said.

Two hours later, Rayne completed her four hundredth lap.

"I'm going to make her stop now," Doc said. He drove over to the intercom system and told Rayne to slow down.

"I'm not done yet!" Rayne retorted into her microphone.

"Come on, Kiddo," Doc said. "We're happy with today."

"Fine," Rayne said. She slowed to a stop next to Doc and her father.

"Good work, Kiddo," Doc said.

"Thanks, Doc," Rayne said. "I could have kept going too."

"We know, Rookie," Doc said. "But you don't want to kill yourself the first day of training. You need to save yourself until you build stronger stamina, although you already have a sufficient amount."

"Okay," Rayne said, not looking completely convinced. "If you say so."

"Good," Doc said. "Now head back to Radiator Springs while your father and I talk for a couple minutes."

"Okay," Rayne replied. She revved her engine and shot out of the stadium, kicking up dust as she sped away.

"She's going to be great," Doc said.

"I hope so," Lightning said.

"So," Doc said. "You've been feeling stiff lately?"

"A little," Lightning said. "Just around my wheel axles. No big deal."

"It could be," Doc said. "Instead of you training today I want to check your wheel axle to make sure it's okay."

"Sounds good," Lightning replied. "Do you still get sore from your wreck?"

"Not too bad," Doc said, driving onto the road alongside Lightning. "I'm stiff in the mornings, but you could have more lasting effects. Your race was a lot worse than mine."

"It wasn't that much worse," Lightning replied.

"All I broke was one wheel axle and I had an aluminum replacement," Doc said. "Believe me, your wreck was worse than mine was."

"Maybe," Lightning said. "But either way, wrecks are not fun. That's what worries me about Rayne."

"I know, Kid," Doc said. "But she's definitely knows how to take care of herself."

"Believe me, I know, Lightning answered. "But all the same, I just don't want her to go through what I did."

"I wish I could promise you she wouldn't, Kid," Doc said. "But it's unlikely she'll have a wreck as bad as yours was."

"I know the statistics," Lightning said. "But that one in a hundred chance is too much for me."

"Everything looks good to me," Doc said twenty minutes later. "The scarring will always be bad, but the axle itself looks pretty good."

"Great," Lightning said in a satisfied tone. He did not feel like going through another tedious recovery. He had broken the same wheel axle four times since the initial accident. Once in his first season back after the wreck (right before his wedding), another time in his fourth season back in the circuit, a third time playing with Rayne, and a fourth time two years ago when he was training in the off-season.

"So when are you going to announce it's your last season?" Doc asked.

"I haven't really thought about it to tell you the truth," Lightning said. "I just realized it yesterday."

"Yeah," Doc said. "It'll be hard for you to let go."

"I'll be okay," Lightning said. "Rayne will be racing so I'll still be around the people and the fans. It will be the same except for me actually racing."

"The whole 'you racing' part is what you're going to miss," Doc replied. "It's hard for cars to give it up."

"I will miss it," Lightning admitted. "But I'm getting older, and I think the industry needs some new blood."

"Or a younger version of the same blood," Doc said. "It's probably true though. You've been making racing pretty predictable for sixteen years."

"Well, the broken wheel axles added some excitement," Lightning said, grinning.

"Not really," Doc said. "You still won those seasons too."

"By thinner margins," Lightning countered.

"That's true," Doc said.

"Yeah," Lightning replied. "But as I said earlier, the industry needs some change, and if Rayne gets into the circuit, which she probably will, she'll give the industry the change it needs."

"That's right," Doc said. "I'll have to teach you to crew chief so you can be Rayne's coach."

"I think that will be your job," Lightning said. "You're an accomplished crew chief. I don't want to mess Rayne up."

Doc laughed. "Okay, it can be that way at first, and then we'll get you in as co-crew chief. After that, you should be ready. It's not that hard."

"If you say so," Lightning said. He thought back to when Sally crew was his crew chief for one race in his first season back after his wreck. He did not win that race.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Doc said. "We need to register her for her first race. When is the soonest you want her racing?"

"I'll have to talk to Sally," Lightning replied. "We need to get her into the junior circuit as soon as possible if we want her to qualify for the Piston Cup by the start of next season, but Sally home schools her, so I don't know how that will work out."

"The Piston Cup has a circuit teaching system," Doc said. "We wouldn't be able to come home every other week, but if we leave right after your race, we can get to the next track by Monday. The track school starts Tuesday and it goes through Friday. It starts at eight, and at noon, they train for a couple hours and eat lunch. They get back to work at two and they let out a six."

"That sounds great," Lightning said. "I'll go home and talk to Sally about it. She shouldn't have a problem with any of it."

"Okay," Doc said. "Sheriff has an appointment now. Go home and talk to Sally about what you're going to decide. We could probably get her in as early as this Saturday if you guys are comfortable with that."

"Okay," Lightning said, heading towards the door. "I'll talk to you later then."

"Bye," Doc said as Lightning rolled out of the clinic.

Lightning drove down the street of Radiator Springs, observing his surroundings. It was still early, but the tiny town was beginning to wake up. He saw Rayne talking to Flo over at the diner. Whatever Rayne was saying humored Flo substantially. The middle-aged car's body shook with laughter.

Lighting glanced to his right and saw Mack, still fast asleep. He mumbled something in his slumber. Lightning grinned and drove to the Cozy Cone where he was sure Sally was already at work.

"Hey," Lightning said, driving into the office. He drove around the desk where his wife was situated, kissed her lightly, and allowed her to lean up against him.

"Hey," Sally replied. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing much," Lightning replied. "Talking to you about Rayne's racing schedule."

"Oh," Sally said. "Okay. What do we need to discuss?"

"I just have some information to give you," Lightning said.

"Go ahead," Sally said. "I'm listening."

"Well, if we put Rayne in the P.C.J.L., the Piston Cup Junior League, we wouldn't be able to come home every other week because the circuit provides a school for all the racers," Lightning said.

"What kind of school?" Sally asked suspiciously. "I want Rayne to have an excellent education."

"It's just a regular school," Lightning replied. He explained the dynamics of the school to Sally. When he finished, Sally looked fairly satisfied.

"That sounds good," she said. "Now the only problem is I'll never be able to see you guys."

"You can come see us," Lightning said. "Now that Lizzy is gone, only the motel needs looking after, and Flo can do that."

Lizzy passed away about a year and a half previously. She died peacefully of old age.

"That's true," Sally said, a trace of sadness running across her face. Although she never said anything about it, she had had an attachment with Lizzy.

"It's settled then?" Lightning asked. "She can start Saturday?"

"It's settled," Sally said, smiling at her husband.

**A/N: Okay, so how do you like it?! I don't really like the title, but it'll have to work. I understand it's probably a little boring now, but it'll get better. Please review, I want everybody who reads this to review so I can understand what I can make adjustments with!!**

**Also, updates are going to be once a week, give or take a day or two. It's almost Christmas break, so I should get some work done over that...but who knows what my evil teachers will throw on me...**


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

**A/N: Okay, here's chapter two! It's still a little introductory, but we'll get into some racing action in chapter three! Please review at the end of the chapter! I'd love to break 70 reviews with this fan fiction, but if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen…**

**Also many thanks to the reviewers, especially the ones that gave me special advice (y'all know what I'm talking about) **

**Disclaimer: **I do NOT own Cars.

Two days later, Lightning , Doc, and Rayne packed their belongings, getting ready to hit the road. It was five in the morning and the trio had to leave Radiator Springs by six to get to San Antonio by three that afternoon.

"When can I get my own trailer?" Rayne asked, looking at Lightning and Doc's with a longing look in her eyes.

"As soon as you hit the big leagues," Lightning replied. "If you get into the Piston Cup circuit we'll talk about getting you a trailer."

"Can it be as nice as yours?" Rayne asked, a glint of excitement in her blue eyes.

"Once again, we'll talk if you get into the Piston Cup circuit," Lightning said.

"If?" Rayne scoffed. "I don't think there's any question on whether or not I make it in or not."

"Whoa, get that ego under control," Lightning schooled. "You need to learn the meaning of the word 'humble.' You can't just go into the circuits with that much narcissism."

"You're one to talk," Doc said, putting his microphone in the side compartment of his trailer. "You couldn't keep your head on your shoulders for any time at all when you first got onto the track."

"That's true," Lightning admitted. "But that's no reason for you to strut around in unknown territory," he added to Rayne. "That's a great way to ask for trouble."

"Sorry," Rayne mumbled.

Thirty minutes later, all three cars were packed. They ate a quick breakfast and headed back to Mack and his girlfriend, Abby, who pulled Doc's trailer.

"Were you going to leave without saying goodbye to me?" came a tired voice from behind Lightning, Doc, and Rayne.

Lightning turned around to face his wife. "I didn't want to wake you up," he said, giving Sally an apologetic smile. "You looked very peaceful."

"Well, I wanted to say goodbye," Sally said. "My family is leaving me for an indefinite period of time after all. Who knows when I'll be able to see you guys again?""You make it sound like we're dying, Mom," Rayne said, grinning. "You can come see us whenever you want to."

"I know," Sally said, moving forward to hug her daughter. "But that won't stop me from missing you."

Lightning moved forward to hug his wife. "You won't even notice we're gone," he said, kissing his wife lightly. (Rayne threw a repulsed look to Doc who returned it to her). "You can come see us in a week or two."

"Okay," Sally replied. She backed away from Lightning and over to Doc. "Keep those two in line," she said, hugging Doc. "Don't let them do anything stupid."

"I'll try," Doc said, returning the hug. "It might be hard now though. It's two against one now, and I'm the one at the disadvantage."

Sally laughed. "I'm sure you'll figure something out," she said.

"I hope so," Doc replied.

"Well, I guess I'll see you three in a few weeks then," Sally said.

"See you then," Rayne said, eagerly bounding up the ramp and into Lightning's trailer.

Lightning grinned at Sally. "I think she's slightly excited," he said.

"Me too," Sally said. "Call me when you get there so I know you got there safely."

"Will do," Lightning replied. He kissed his wife one last time, smiled at her, and drove up the ramp of his trailer, shutting the door behind him.

"Finally!" Rayne said once the door was closed.

"What?" Lightning asked. "I didn't take that long out there. We're not going to be seeing your mother for a while!"

"Not that," Rayne said. "I'm finally on the way to a race! I've been waiting for this my entire life!"

"I'm glad you're excited," Lightning said, grinning at his daughter's enthusiasm. "Now, we're in for a long drive. I suggest going to sleep. That's what I usually do."

"I am tired," Rayne admitted. "I'm not used to getting up at four in the morning."

"Go to sleep," Lightning said. "We'll still have a while to go when you wake up."

"Okay," Rayne said. She was quiet for several minutes. Before long, her breathing was deep and methodical. Lightning was sure she was asleep.

Lightning was also very tired. After about ten minutes, his eyelids became heavy, and he too drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

Several hours later, Lightning woke up to a sharp throbbing in his wheel axles. He groaned and shifted the weight from his front right tire to the front left one. The throbbing persisted, but it wasn't as severe.

"Are you okay, Dad?" Rayne asked groggily.

"I'm fine, Hun," Lightning responded. "My wheel axle is just stiff. It happens when I'm still for a while."

"We can take a pit-stop if you want to," Rayne offered.

"That's okay," Lightning said. "Unless you need to take a stretch break too," he added.

"I do," Rayne said. "It's already noon, so we've been in here for six hours. That's a long time to stay still."

"That's true," Lightning agreed. He pressed the button to Mack's microphone. "Hey, Mack, could you pull over at the next rest station, please?"

"Sure thing, Boss," Mack said. "I'll radio it over to Abby so she'll pull over too."

"Thanks, Mack," Lightning said.

"No problem, Boss," the truck replied.

Five minutes later, Mack pulled into a rest station. The station itself was not crowded; no more than seven cars were there, all of them eating lunch. The large trailers with Lightning and Doc's pictures on them attracted their attention.

Lightning opened his trailer and drove down the ramp. Once he was on level asphalt, he stretched his wheel axle, sighing in relief. Lightning knew his wheel axle was getting worse than anyone. He just didn't want to admit it.

"You okay, Rookie?" Doc asked, driving up next to Lightning.

"Yeah," Lightning said. "Rayne and I needed to drive around for a little while."

"Okay," Doc said. "We can spend about ten minutes here. Surprisingly enough, we're ahead of schedule. There is hardly any traffic on the roads today."

"That's good," Lightning said. "I fell asleep in the trailer and I woke up about ten minutes ago."

Doc laughed. "Lucky you," he said.'

"You couldn't sleep?" Lightning asked, a concerned expression on his face. Doc normally slept for a majority of the truck rides.

"Not today," Doc said. "I had some stuff to do anyway. I had to finish Rayne's applications and general information packets."

"I could have done that, Doc," Lightning said. "She is my daughter after all," he added in a joking tone.

"I know, Kid," Doc said. "But I know you need your rest, and if you had been awake, we would have needed to stop more because you would have felt the stiffness in your axle earlier."

"Rayne needed a break too," Lightning said defensively. He looked across the rest stop to where Rayne was buying a can of fuel for the road. "She said she needed to stretch."

"I kind of doubt that, Kiddo," Doc said. "She's only fifteen. Young cars don't normally get stiff unless they were previously injured. I know for a fact Rayne has never been badly injured, unless you count the time she dented her side when you two decided to race one another, even though you still got the worse end of the deal."

"That was not-so-smart," Lightning agreed, recollecting on the incident:

_**Flashback**_

"I'm bored," twelve-year-old Rayne complained. She drove off the couch where she was sitting and over to her father, who was reading the racing newspaper. "Let's do something, Dad," she said.

"Like what?" Lightning asked, looking up from the paper.

"Let's have a race!" Rayne said excitedly. "We could go to the practice track and everything!"

"I don't know, Rayne," Lightning said somewhat doubtfully. "I'm kind of tired. I did have a race yesterday, remember?"

"Okay," Rayne sighed, disappointment echoing in her voice. She looked at the ground with sad blue eyes. Rayne knew exactly how to manipulate her father.

Lightning looked at his daughter's sad expression for a moment. "Okay, fine," he said, heading towards the door of the house. "Let's go."

"Yes!" Rayne said excitedly, following her father to the door.

Ten minutes later, Lightning and Rayne engaged in a twenty lap race around the practice track. For the first ten laps, Lightning was ahead of Rayne. He was planning to let Rayne catch up with him and win at the end.

With five laps left, Lightning slowing slightly to let Rayne catch up with him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rayne beginning to catch up with him. Rayne pulled up to where she was even with her father. She revved her engine and pulled ahead of Lightning.

Lightning was surprised. He was still going well over one hundred miles per hour and Rayne was ahead of him. Lightning settled in Rayne's bump draft.

Suddenly, Rayne's front left tire blew out. Her whole body spun to the left. Lightning, trying to avoid hitting Rayne, swerved sharply to the right. A quick snap echoed throughout the stadium and Lightning knew his wheel axle was once again, broken. Before he could stop, he rammed into Rayne's side, causing her to yell out in pain.

Lightning slammed on brakes and groaned. He wheel was dragging uselessly behind him. The pain was searing, intense, and all-too-familiar.

"Dad! Dad! Are you okay?" called Rayne's voice from somewhere behind Lightning.

"I don't think so, Rayne," Lightning groaned. "Are you okay?"

"I'm a little dented," Rayne said. "Where are you hurt?"

"My wheel axle is broken," Lightning said, panting slightly. "I'm going to call Doc so he'll come out here. I don't want you moving until we get your side looked at."

"I think I'm okay," Rayne said, rolling over to her father. She took a sharp intake of breath when she saw her father's wheel jutting out from his underside at the odd angle.

"Don't look, Rayne," Lightning said, dialing Doc's number and trying to keep himself from passing out. "I don't want you seeing that."

"Dad, I've seen it before," Rayne said. She drove around her father and pressed up against his right side to relieve the pressure from the broken axle.

"What do you need, Rookie?" Doc asked, answering his phone.

"Doc, I'm at the practice track," Lightning said, his teeth clenched together. "Rayne and I were racing, and we wrecked. We're both hurt."

"I'm on my way," Doc said. "Where are you two hurt, Kid?"

"Rayne's tire blew out, which caused the whole thing. We collided so she has some denting on her side," Lightning said, trying to clear his head. "And I broke my wheel axle again."

The line was silent for a moment. "I'm almost there," Doc said grimly.

_**Present Time**_

"Earth to Dad!"

Lightning snapped back to reality. Rayne and Doc were both staring at him with amused expressions on their faces.

"What were you thinking about?" Rayne asked, looking at her father.

"Nothing really," Lightning replied. "Just a few old memories."

At three that afternoon, Lightning, Doc, and Rayne arrived at the San Antonio Motorway. They unloaded their trailers and set up their area they would be staying in for the next four days.

"What are your plans for the rest of the day?" Doc asked once he was done unloading his own trailer.

"I have to get Rayne registered for school," Lightning said. "You covered all the racing stuff, right?"

"Yeah," Doc replied. "She's registered. All she has to do is pick a number and have it put on her sides."

"I get to choose my own number?" Rayne asked, an excited tone ringing throughout her voice.

"Yeah," Lightning said. "As long as it's not already in use in your division."

"Can I pick a number that's already in use in the actual Piston Cup circuit, but not in the P.C.J.L?" Rayne asked.

"Yeah," Lightning said.

"Okay," Rayne said. "Where do I go to get my number?"

"The same place I'm going to register you for school," Lightning said. "We can go now if you want to."

"Sounds good," Rayne replied. She already knew which number she was getting. Rayne had always pictured herself with the number; it only seemed natural, as if there was no question on whether or not she would use it.

Lightning set off across the large parking lot towards the registration tent, Rayne right behind him. He smiled to some of his fellow racecars, addressing some of them by name if he knew them personally.

Once the McQueens arrived at the registration tent, Lightning had to answer a few general questions about Rayne.

"Full name?" asked a middle-aged female Altima. It was obvious she did not want to be working at the moment, due to the dull tone of her voice, and the fact she never actually looked up to see who she was talking to.

"Meredith Rayne McQueen," Lightning responded.

At the name McQueen, the Altima looked up from her desk, a mildly interested expression on her face.

"Age?" she asked, using a voice that contrasted the monotonous one she used previously.

"Fifteen," Lightning said, throwing Rayne a sideways glance. The way the Altima was acting was nothing new to Lightning, but it was to Rayne. Lightning did not want Rayne to get snobby because people treated her specially.

"What courses are you currently enrolled in?" the Altima asked, looking Rayne directly in the eye.

"Spanish II, AP Statistics, Chemistry I Honors, English II Honors, Pre-calculus, and World History Honors," Rayne recited.

The Altima typed the information into a computer and printed out a document. **(A/N: No, I have absolutely NO idea how cars type…just go along with it)**.

"Here's your schedule," the Altima said, handing the sheet of paper over to Rayne.

"Thanks," Rayne said, quickly scanning the sheet of paper. "When can I get my racing number?" she asked, looking up from the paper.

"Follow me," the Altima said, driving out from behind her desk.

"I'll see you at the trailer later, Dad," Rayne said, following the Altima.

"Okay, Hun," Lightning called back. "Don't go anywhere else after your paint job. Come straight back!"

"Okay, Dad," Rayne called back.

Lightning watched Rayne drive away. He turned back towards his trailer and started thinking about Rayne's facing career. She was destined to be great. With her speed and endurance, she was the ideal racecar. Lightning knew Chick and Storm were bound to attempt to stop Rayne from racing in some way, shape, or form. He was worried what they may try. Chick almost ruined Lightning's career sixteen years before, and Lightning was wary Chick and his son would try something to stop Rayne from racing too. They would try anything for victory, even if it meant ruining another car's career.

"Rookie?"

Lightning snapped out of his trance. While he was deep in thought, he absentmindedly arrived back at his trailer. Doc was parked in front of him reading the racing newspaper.

"Oh," Lightning said, realizing where he was.

"What's on your mind, Kiddo?" Doc asked. He said it in his usual gruff manner, but there was a glint of concern in his blue eyes.

"Nothing really," Lightning said. "I'm just worrying about Rayne."

"You worry too much," Doc said. "Just relax. She can take care of herself better than you think she can."

"You don't know that," Lightning challenged. "Look at what Chick did to me in my second season! What if they try to do something to Rayne? I couldn't live with myself if she got hurt."

"I don't know that Chick will see her as a challenge at first," Doc said. "He doesn't think much of girls to tell you the truth. He won't be expecting what Rayne puts out on the track."

"Well, after he realizes how good she is, then he'll plot something," Lightning said. "And I've never actually taken the time to see Storm train, so I don't know what to expect."

"Well, he's heading out onto the track right now," Doc said, looking beyond Lightning to where Chick and Storm were going out on the track. "If you want o go spy for a couple minutes we can."

"Sounds good to me," Lightning said. "Rayne won't be done for a while anyway."

Doc nodded and drove towards the track. Lightning followed his crew chief across the huge parking lot to the observation box.

"Have you ever seen him train?" Lightning asked Doc.

"No," Doc said. "I've heard about him, but I haven't actually seen him go."

Lightning nodded. "What have you heard?" he asked, not sure if he really wanted to know.

"Well, from what I've heard, he's got good speed and endurance," Doc said. He hesitated before adding, "He's broken most of the speed records for juniors at all the major speedways."

"Great," Lightning mumbled. He watched Storm take a few warm-up laps.

Storm did not have the boxy build Chick did. His mother (and Lightning's ex-fiancé, Halley), was a sleek sports car, and that was good fortune for the sake of Storm's aerodynamics. Storm was painted pale silver, the number seven painted in white on his sides, outlined in black. He was sleek in build, but also large enough to where it was obvious he had power.

"He looks like a powerhouse," Lightning said, frowning. Storm's muscular build increased Lightning's skepticism on whether or not he should be allowing Rayne to race against him.

"Stop worrying," Doc said. "You'll make the kid worry more about keeping you satisfied."

"I can't stop worrying!" Lightning said hotly. "She's not your daughter, Doc! You're not the one who's responsible when she gets hurt!"

"Lightning, I love that kid almost as much as you do," Doc said. "And I don't want you thinking I'm being reckless with her safety when I say I want her to race. She's like the kid I never had. I just see her potential and I don't want it going to waste."

Doc's words hit Lightning with an unexpected twist. Lightning realized Doc was right. Doc delivered Rayne, and had been like a grandfather to Rayne her entire life, mainly because Lightning's father passed away when Rayne was two.

Down on the track, Storm started his workout. He stopped at the starting line, and on his father's signal, he took off.

"Blistering" is often used to describe an incredibly fast speed. "Blistering" did not even come close to describing the magnitude of Storm's velocity. He shot off from the starting line like a bullet from a gun, and even looked like a silver bullet rocketing around the track. He used his corners exactly the way Rayne did. Storm shot out of turn one and increased his pace more than before. The young car's speed at age fifteen had the caliber of a mature Piston Cup racecar.

"Holy crap," Lightning murmured. Storm's speed left him with a sense of awe, even if it was not in a positive circumstance.

"I've never seen anything like that before," Doc said. His eyes never left the young racer; it was as though he was mesmerized by the celerity Storm displayed on the track.

"I don't want Rayne racing him," Lightning said. "I don't think she can beat that, Doc."

"Just wait and see, Kiddo," Doc said, still not taking his eyes off of Storm. "She's never had a challenge before. A lot of cars step up to the plate when they're presented with a challenge."

"I don't know if that's possible," Lighting said.

"Don't discourage her until you've given her a fair chance," Doc said.

"You're right," Lightning said. "Maybe this will deflate her ego a little."

"It should," Doc said. "Unless she steps up to the plate and beats him."

"If that's possible," Lightning said. "I need to get back to the trailer so I'll be there when Rayne gets back."

"I've seen enough here too," Doc said. He followed Lightning out of the observation box and back down to the parking lot.

The drive back to the trailers was spent in silence. Both of the racing veterans were mulling over what they had just seen.

Rayne was already waiting for them with Lightning and Doc arrived back at the trailer. She was facing them head-on, so the number on her sides was invisible to both Lightning and Doc.

"Well," Lightning called, a smile on his face. "Go ahead and show us!"

Obviously trying to conceal her pride, Rayne turned to the side, and there, on her black and blue flamed side, was a white, electric blue-outlined, number thirteen.

**A/N: ****Okay, just another thing to worry Lightning, huh? Lucky number thirteen!**

**Coming Up Next: Some racing action!!! Haha.**

**Ready, Set, REVIEW!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Here's another update! I just went through a week of you-know-what..it was awful. It wasn't even exam week but I still had tests in all my classes!! It was awful, but I only have three days left until winter break (and three more tests) so all is good now! **

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Cars

The next morning, Lightning woke up at six to train. He went out to the track and found that Doc was not already there. Doc was normally waiting for Lightning before the training session, so Lightning found his crew chief's absence peculiar. Doc had never been late to a training session before.

Lightning got onto the track, avoiding the other racers. He did a couple of warm up laps and stretched his already aching wheel axle.

"You there, Kiddo?" came Doc's voice through Lightning's intercom system.

"Yeah," Lightning replied.

"Sorry I'm late," Doc said. "Today we're working on your sprints. We'll do individual time trials for one lap sprints."

"Okay," Lightning said. He pulled up to the starting line, and on Doc's signal, Lightning shot down the track. He revved his engine and then floored it, giving himself a speed boost.

"Good technique, Kiddo," Doc said. "That's a good skill to use if it's neck and neck in the last lap."

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," Lightning said. He drove deeply into turn four and shot out of it, crossing the finish line.

"Twenty-six seconds," Doc said. "That's not too bad."

"Okay," Lightning said. "How many am I doing today?"

"That'll do for today, Rookie," Doc said. "I don't want you to over-do it."

"Doc, I'm fine!" Lightning retorted.

"I know," Doc said lightly, "but it's Rayne's first day of school. You need to see her off."

"Good point," Lightning said. He took a warm-down lap for the sake of his wheel axle, which was throbbing slightly. After the lap, Lightning slowed down near the exit of the track and drove off. Lightning rolled to where Doc was waiting for him and set off with his crew chief back to the trailer.

"How does your axle feel?" Doc asked, studying Lightning's movement out of the corner of his eye. He was looking for traces of Lightning favoring the axle.

"Fine, why?" Lightning asked suspiciously.

"You've been favoring it out on the track," Doc replied. "You've been drifting to the inside, which means you're putting more weight on your front left wheel instead of evenly distributing it."

"I have not," Lightning said indignantly. He secretly knew Doc was right, but he did not want to admit it.

"Deny it all you want, Kiddo," Doc said. "But I have it on tape. I can show you if you want me to."

"I'm good," Lightning said unhappily. "It's been bothering me," he admitted. "But this is my last season, so it doesn't really matter that much."

"Sure it does," Doc said. "It may be your last season, but you still have a lot of races left before the Dinoco 400. Don't get too cocky about it. You know better than anyone how easy it is for you to break that axle. One sharp turn, and you could lose the Cup, which would be a shame, it being your last season and all."

"That's true," Lightning admitted, pulling up to his trailer and knocking on the side to wake Rayne up. "Come on, Sleeping Beauty!" he called. "It's time to get ready for school!"

"I'm already up!" Rayne called back. Ten seconds later, Rayne rolled down the ramp and drove over to where her father and surrogate grandfather were waiting.

"What were you doing in there?" Lightning asked.

"Watching television," Rayne replied.

"What's on at six forty-five in the morning?" Lightning asked.

"Nothing really," Rayne replied. "The news."

"Well, we need to get you to school," Lightning said. "You wouldn't make a very good first impression if you were late to your first day of school."

"I know," Rayne said. "I'm going."

"You don't want me to come along?" Lightning asked, slightly hurt. He never had the joy of taking his daughter to her first day of school because she had been homeschooled. He had been looking forward to doing it today.

"Dad, I'll be fine," Rayne said. "I need to make some friends so I don't have to spend all my time around you two."

"Oh, thanks," Lightning said, slightly taken aback on his daughter's attitude towards he and Doc.

"Dad, I'd drive you two crazy, and you guys would drive me crazy. It's a mutual relationship," Rayne said. "Besides, I've never actually had friends my age, so I'm kind of excited."

"Okay, okay," Lightning said. "I get it. Go ahead. I'm going to watch you train today."

"Well, duh," Rayne said. "All crew chiefs have to assist with the training. It's mandatory for them to."

"First of all, watch your tone," Lightning warned his daughter. "And secondly, Doc is your crew chief, not me. I don't need that pressure in addition to everything else I have to worry about."

"Okay," Rayne said. "I'm going to go. I'll see you later."

"Bye," Lightning said. "Have fun!"

"Will do!" Rayne called as she drove away.

Lightning watched his daughter drive away, feeling a pang of sadness. She was growing up so quickly. It seemed like just yesterday she was a three-year-old, attempting to go over thirty miles an hour for the first time, or even a ten-year-old trying to sneak out and tractor tip with Mater.

"You okay, Rookie?" Doc asked, glancing over to where Lightning was parked. It looked as though he was lost.

"Huh? Oh! I'm fine," Lightning replied. "They just grow up really fast."

Doc laughed. "They sure do, Kiddo," he said. "Now, I want you to get fitted for a stabilizer brace, just so we don't take any chances. You don't want to break down in any races this season. You need to go with a bang."

Lightning groaned. "Doc those things are so uncomfortable! They rub my axle raw!"

"Better raw than broken," Doc countered.

Lightning tilted his head in agreement. "That's true," he admitted. "But it still burns like heck."

"I think that's what they call 'suffering for your art,'" Doc said, giving Lightning a half-smile. "God knows you've done enough of that over the years."

"You can say that again," Lightning laughed.

That afternoon, Lightning went to the observation box to watch Rayne train. Doc was down on the track coaching the young racer. Rayne had a hard, determined expression on her face that showed she was ready to show what she could do to her classmates. To Lightning's dismay, Rayne was the only female in the class.

Lightning's focus shifted from his daughter to Storm. He was warming up, going around the track at about seventy miles an hour. He had a bored expression on his face, as though seventy was not nearly fast enough. His movements were fluid and graceful; he shifted gears without breaking stride, and increased his speed to about one hundred miles an hour, increasing the intensity of his warm up. Storm had a self-satisfied smirk pasted on his face now, as if he knew how good he was.

Lightning changed his focus back to Rayne. She was also warming up, going around the track at seventy-five miles an hour. She did several laps at that speed, and then like Storm had, she increased her speed to about one hundred miles per hour. She looked good out on the track. The thirteen painted on her side gave off the impression she was already a circuit racer, comfortable and accustomed to the track. Even the electric blue flames on her sides that Lightning had not been fond of to begin with gave a nice effect. She looked like a born racer on the track.

After a couple laps at one hundred, Rayne slowed down to talk to Doc. Lightning saw them converse for a few minutes. Every few seconds, Rayne would nod her head, giving Lightning the impression Doc was giving her pointers about something.

Rayne turned towards the track, the same determined look on her face. She stopped at the starting line and waited for Doc's signal. To Lightning, it looked as though she was practicing her sprints. Lightning waited anxiously for Rayne to start.

At Doc's signal, Rayne flew away from the starting line. She burned rubber for half a second, got a grip on the asphalt, and shot away. Rayne tore up the short stretch of track, carefully maneuvering around her classmates who were traveling at slower velocities than she was. She drove deep into turn one and shot out of it. Rayne slowed slightly going down the short side of the track due to some traffic, but regained her momentum going into turn two, which she completed in the slingshot fashion, much like turn one.

Lightning shifted his attention to Storm for a moment. Storm was watching Rayne with a mildly interested expression on his smooth face. Storm never let his cool gray eyes leave Rayne. He seemed to absorb her every move. There was a slightly awed look on his sly visage, as thought he did not expect Rayne to be that impressive on the track.

Lightning felt a sense of pride at the look of surprise on Storm's face. His daughter would be the one who introduced an element of racing that was thought to be impossible.

Putting his eyes back on Rayne, Lightning watched her complete turn four and start flying down the homestretch. When she got close to the finish, Lightning saw a silver streak flash in the corner of his eye. It was Storm, racing up behind Rayne, challenging her to a speed duel.

Out of her peripheral vision, Rayne must have seen Storm flying up beside her, because instead of slowing down, she increased her speed.

Lightning watched the clash from the observation box, fear and panic exploding in his tank. He watched as Storm gained on Rayne to where they were even. Storm started pulling away from Rayne, but Rayne returned the dare with another burst of speed, overtaking Storm once again.

"Come on, Rayne," Lightning mumbled, watching his daughter rip around the track. He found that he was rooting for his daughter as if it was an actual race.

Lightning glanced at Doc for a moment, knowing he would be furious with Rayne for this. To his surprise, Doc was talking into his intercom system with a calm expression on his face, as if he was giving her instructions.

Lightning looked back to his daughter and Chick's son, who were speeding into turn three. Storm had fallen slightly behind, but coming out of the turn, Rayne faltered slightly. Storm took advantage of his competition's mistake and shot into the lead. Rayne's hood was even with Storm's back tires. Lightning knew Rayne would not have enough time to regain the lead. She stayed that distance from the lead until both cars crossed the finish line.

Rayne's taillights came on as she slowed down and drove back to Doc, a defeated expression on her face.

Lightning rushed out of the observation box and down to the pit area, where Doc was talking to Rayne with a grim expression on his face.

"What in the world were you thinking?" Lightning asked. "You could have gotten yourself killed out there! This is exactly why I didn't want you racing in the first place!"

"Dad!" Rayne said. "Relax!"

"I'm not going to relax after that little stunt!" Lightning said. "If you got hurt, I could never forgive myself!"

"Dad!" Rayne said. "Doc told me to go for it! It was all part of our plan. You're going to give the plan away if you're too loud!"

"What plan?" Lightning asked, lowering his volume considerably. "I wasn't aware there was a plan."

"If you had given us a chance to explain, you'd know, Kiddo," Doc said, smiling slightly. "We're planning to surprise Storm. If he doesn't know what's coming, we'll be able to throw him a curveball."

"I meant to lose traction coming out of that turn," Rayne explained quietly, making sure no one overheard her. "And I wasn't going my top speed either."

"Oh," said Lightning, feeling rather stupid. "I was just worried you were going to get hurt."

"Dad, me racing is going to be a lot more intense than a one lap match race," Rayne said, looking at her father. "That was nothing compared to what it will be on Saturday."

"I know," Lightning sighed. "What time do you have to be back in class?"

"Now," Rayne said, starting to pull away. "I'll see you two at six."

"okay," Lightning said, watching Rayne drive away.

"She handled herself well, Rookie," Doc said, glancing over to Lightning. "I had her sprinting in hopes that Storm would challenge her like that. We need to give him some false confidence."

"Okay," Lightning said. "That sounds like a good idea. It should get her a pretty good finish in her first race."

"Let's hope it works," Doc replied gruffly.

For Lightning, the next few days flew by. Before he knew it, it was Saturday, and the emotions were running high at the McQueen trailer.

"What if I finish last?" Rayne fretted as she paced in front of Lightning and Doc. "I'll embarrass myself and you two."

"You'll do fine," Lightning assured his daughter. "You've been training consistently, and you drive well on this track. There's no reason why you wouldn't do well."

"But what if I lose?" Rayne asked.

"Then you lose," Doc said simply. "You probably _won't_ win today; not many cars win their debut race."

"My dad did," Rayne said, continuing to pace.

"And he lost miserably in his second race," Doc countered. "You never know. If you have a good day, that's great. If not, then we move onto the next race."

Rayne nodded. She quit pacing and gazed at the track with a distracted expression on her face.

Lightning nudged his daughter. "You'll be fine," he said.

"All Junior Racers, please make your way to the track!" the loud speaker called.

Rayne whimpered quietly. She looked nervously from her father, to Doc, and back to her father. All the other teenagers began filing to the track.

"Go get 'em, Kiddo," Doc said, smiling at the fifteen-year-old.

"We'll see you in a little while," Lightning said. "Good luck, Hun."

"Thanks," Rayne said in a small voice. She pulled away from Lightning and Doc and followed the procession of the other junior racers to the track. Rayne was starting from the back of the pack. Because she was new to racing she did not get a pre-determined spot. The better a racer did in their previous race, the better starting position they got in the next one. The car who won the previous race always started from the front inside position.

Lightning watched his daughter intently as she drove out onto the track. She drove shakily onto the smooth pavement and drove to the back of the cars that were already lined up.

"No matter how tough she acts, she's always nervous about everything," Lightning said, smiling slightly.

"Now who does that sound like?" Doc asked, looking sideways at Lightning.

Lightning laughed, almost nervously. He was still haunted by the thought that Rayne would get hurt on the track.

"Lightning!" called a voice from behind him. Lightning turned around to see Kori Turbowitz and her camera crew pull up behind him.

"Hey, Kori," Lightning said, greeting the reporter he had forged a friendship with over the years. "How are you?"

"Pretty good," Kori replied. "What about you?"

"A little nervous," Lightning admitted.

Kori smiled. "Do you mind if I ask you a couple questions?" she asked.

"Not at all," Lightning said. "We have a few minutes before the race starts anyway."

"Okay, good," Kori said. "What made you decide to let your daughter race?"

"Well, mainly Doc and my wife," Lightning admitted. "Doc said he wanted to train her, but I was reluctant. When I talked it over with Sally, she agreed with Doc, so I finally gave in."

"You didn't want Rayne racing?" Kori inquired.

"It's not that I don't want her racing," Lightning said. "Rayne loves it, but I'm just worried she'll get hurt. After what I've gone through, it makes me nervous, but Rayne can handle herself well, so we'll see what she can do."

"It's understandable," Kori assured him. "How big of a fight do you think she'll put up against the other racers?"

"I guess we'll find out, huh," Lightning said, glancing back to the track. "She's been training well at this track thus far, and we hope that carries over to today."

"I'm sure it will," Kori said, smiling at Lightning. "Thanks for your time, Lightning."

"No problem, Kori," Lightning said, returning the smile and facing the track once again.

Rayne looked composed and confident now, but she had an absolutely terrified look in her eyes that showed her true emotion. Lightning smiled. He had the same problem when he was younger; no matter how calm he tried to look, his eyes always showed his true emotion.

The racing official raised the green flag. When it was dropped, the young racers shot out onto the track.

"Do you hear me, Kiddo?" Lightning heard Doc ask through the intercom system.

There was a brief pause, and then Doc said "Good."

Lightning inferred Rayne could hear him.

"How are you feeling, Rookie?" Doc asked.

"Okay," Lightning absent-mindedly, his eyes glued to the track.

"Not you," Doc said, glancing at Lightning briefly. "I was talking to your daughter."

"Oh, sorry," Lightning replied. "What did she say?"

"She's fine, Kid," Doc said, smiling slightly.

Out on the track, Lightning saw that Rayne was blocked in the middle of the pack. She did not look happy about it either. Rayne saw an opening ahead of her and quickly sped through it. This gave her more room to move to the head of the pack, where Storm was dominating.

"Good," Lightning murmured. "Tell her to drift to the inside, Doc. There's less ground to cover to get to the front."

"I was about to say the same thing, Kiddo," Doc said. He pressed the button for his headset to turn on. "Rayne, drift inside a little. It's faster."

Although Lightning could not hear Rayne's response, he saw it. Rayne moved to the inside and passed several cars, ending up in fifth place.

"She knows what she's doing out there, that's for sure," Doc said. "She's a natural."

"Don't jinx her," Lightning said as Rayne passed two more cars.

The next one hundred laps went smoothly. Rayne was in second place after Storm. She had proved herself incredibly well, avoiding two collisions that would have otherwise been considered unavoidable. There were ten laps left in the race, and it was about time for Rayne to make her move.

"Okay, Kiddo," Doc said. "Start accelerating a little, it's about time to fight for the win."

Lightning saw his daughter begin to shorten the six-length lead Storm had over her. At the five lap warning Rayne was beginning to approach Storm's bumper. She pulled up to his side, only to have Storm shoot away, showing the same raw speed he had shown earlier in the week.

"That's it," Lightning said, crestfallen. He tore his eyes away from the track, contemplating how he was going to console his daughter.

"Rookie," Doc said slowly.

"What?" Lightning asked glumly.

"You might want to take a look at your daughter," Doc said, and edge of excitement in his usually gruff voice.

Lightning turned back to the track and nearly had an engine attack at what he saw.

Rayne was tearing up the track. Her electric blue eyes no longer showed her fear and insecurity, oh no. They were set in a glare that showed nothing but determinism. Rayne was going faster than Lightning had ever seen her go before. She quickly caught up with Storm again, this time getting even with him. Number thirteen and number seven looked like black and silver bullets, streaking around the track at Piston Cup-quality speeds.

Going into the final lap, Storm responded to Rayne's challenge with another burst of speed, but Rayne was quick to react. The teenagers sped around turns one, two, and three completely synchronized. Going into turn four, Rayne drove a little deeper than Storm did, losing ground. Storm took the lead.

Lightning groaned and turned away from the track again.

"Lightning!" Doc said. "Look!"

Lightning turned back to the track and nearly had an engine attack again.

Rayne had used her signature move. She ripped out of the turn and shot down the track, overtaking Storm half a second before the finish line.

"She did it!" Lightning exclaimed. "Doc, she did it!"

The crowd around the track, although considerably smaller than Piston Cup audiences, roared.

"Great job, Kiddo," Doc said, smiling proudly. "Your dad will meet you in victory lane."

Lightning drove quickly to victory lane, ignoring the reporters that mobbed around him, bombarding him with questions.

He entered victory lane, where Rayne was accepting her prize. Once she had her trophy, she answered a few questions from the press. After she was done answering questions, she turned around. At the sight of her father, Rayne's face lit up. She drove over to her father and engulfed him in a huge hug.

"I did it!" Rayne said ecstatically. She was trembling from all the excitement.

"I'm so proud of you, Hun," Lightning said quietly. "Congratulations on your first win."

**A/N: Okay, so a little sappy at the end, but oh well. Haha. Anyway, there's Rayne's first race, and the next chapter will cover Lightning's race. Please read and review! You're lucky to have this chapter; I almost wasn't able to update because of my heavy school load. **

**Seriously, please review!!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Rayne's victory did not help her already substantial ego. She would tell anyone who would listen how it occurred to her in the last few seconds of the race to use her daring slingshot move.

"I didn't know if it would work," she said to an interested group of reporters, "but something told me to do it, and I went with it. It just ended up paying off," she added casually, as if it did not matter if she won or lost.

"I don't know which would be worse," Lightning said to Doc and Sally (who was on speakerphone), "me having to console her for a defeat, or having to deal with this."

"She'll mellow out eventually," Sally said.

"Eventually," Lightning said dryly. "I'll talk to her later about how to take a win."

"That's a good idea," Doc said. "When Storm beats her, we don't need a rude awakening."

"Yeah," Lightning agreed. "When are you going to come to a race, Sally?" he asked, changing the subject.

"I don't know," Sally replied. "Either next week or the week after. It's been fairly slow around here now that you three have left tow, but we still have some customers coming through."

"Okay," Lightning said.

"I'm headed to my trailer, Kiddo," Doc said. "We're in for a big day tomorrow. You should probably hit the sack pretty soon too."

"I will," Lightning said. "'Night, Doc."

"Bye, Doc," Sally said.

"Bye, Kids," Doc said gruffly before heading to bed.

"So what have you been up to other than the usual?" Lightning asked Sally.

"Nothing really," Sally said. "You know as well as I do that Radiator Springs isn't the most exciting place in the world."

"I'll give you that," Lightning laughed. "But you do need to come to a race soon."

"Why is that?" Sally asked.

"Because I miss you," Lightning said simply. "I'm sure Rayne and Doc miss you too."

"I miss all three of you too," Sally said. "It gets really lonely around here when my three favorite cars leave."

"Yeah," Lightning said. "I can imagine it would. But anyway, Rayne has run out of people to talk to about her amazing victory, so I probably need to deflate her ego a little before the next pair of ears drive by."

"That might be a good idea," Sally laughed. "Be gentle."

"Oh I will," Lightning said. "It would be hypocritical if I wasn't."

"Exactly," Sally said. "Call me after your race tomorrow."

"I will," Lightning said. "I love you."

"I love you too," Sally said. "Bye."

"Bye," Lightning said. He hung up the phone and drove towards his trailer.

"Hey, Rayne," Lightning called. "Come over here for a minute!"

Rayne shot her father a curious look and rolled over to her father. "What's up?" she asked.

"Well," Lightning said, not exactly sure how to start the conversation. "As exciting as it is to win a race, I think you probably need to calm down a little. You raced very well today, and it's exciting that you won your debut, but if there is one unwritten rule in racing that's more important than all the other ones, it's that there is an art to winning and an art to losing. If you lost today, you wouldn't be sulking in anger or locking yourself away in the trailer. Don't brag so much about this. You don't want to make a bad reputation for yourself around here."

"Was I that bad?" Rayne asked, looking slightly worried.

"You weren't too bad," Lightning said. "A little narcissistic, but you're excited and everyone knows that. Just think about how you would feel if Storm ran around everywhere bragging about a slim victory."

"It wasn't _that_ slim," Rayne said indignantly.

"It was pretty slim, Kiddo," Lightning laughed. "If you hadn't executed that move perfectly, you would have lost."

"I guess," Rayne said begrudgingly.

"And anyway," Lightning said. "It doesn't matter if you win by ten lengths or half a second. You don't need to brag too much about it."

"Okay," Rayne said. "I get it."

"Good," Lightning said. He pulled his daughter into a one-sided hug. "You'll learn the rules of the road soon enough."

Rayne grinned up at her father. "Eventually," she said.

The next morning, Lightning woke up at eight. He rolled out of his trailer and stretched his wheel axle, which was already aching.

He glanced over to Doc's trailer, but the door was still shut, signifying he was still asleep. This was very strange. In the nearly twenty years of Doc and Lightning's partnership, Lightning knew Doc had never slept past seven or seven-thirty, except perhaps the time Doc contracted the flu.

Lightning shrugged to himself and drove to the small tent where necessities were sold. He bought a newspaper and took it back to his trailer. He parked outside of his trailer and read the paper cover to cover.

By the time Lightning finished the paper, Doc still hadn't appeared out of his trailer. Lightning did a few more stretching exercises and put on the brace Doc ordered for him. Lightning did not like the brace particularly much, but if it would prevent another break, he would wear it.

Ten minutes later, Doc rolled out of his trailer.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty," Lightning greeted him, cringing as he stretched his axle again.

"Mornin'," Doc replied groggily.

"Are you sick?" Lightning asked.

"No, why?" Doc asked, taking the paper Lightning had finished. He settled and opened the paper.

"You've never slept in past seven-thirty to my knowledge," Lightning said. "It's nearly ten now."

"I'm fine," Doc said, skimming the page. "There's an article in here about the kid."

"Yeah, I read it," Lightning said. "It's only a race recap."

"They seem to have good stuff to say," Doc said, reading the article. "Rayne McQueen, fifteen-year-old daughter and only child to veteran Lightning McQueen, won her debut yesterday after an intense speed duel against the division champion, Storm Hicks."

"Who wouldn't be interested?"Lightning asked. "She's the first female racer in history, and she won her debut."

"I don't think you're giving the kid enough credit," Doc said.

"It's not that I'm not giving her credit," Lightning sighed. "I'm just cautious. Over the years, I've seen a lot of cars begin their careers with a bang and then crash, literally and figuratively, shortly thereafter."

"That's true. I've seen the same thing happen," Doc said. "But maybe you should give her the benefit of the doubt. Her confidence level relies a lot on her perception of how much confidence you have in her. Just think about how you'd feel if I had a ton of doubts in your racing abilities."

"That's true," Lightning agreed, realization hitting him. Over the past week, he had only expressed skepticism to Rayne rather than showing faith in her.

"She needs to know you believe she can race and win," Doc said. "If you don't tell her, she'll be insecure, which can cause serious problems, which I'm sure you know."

"Yeah," Lightning said. "From now on I'll make sure she knows I have confidence in her."

At one o'clock that afternoon, Lightning was on the track, watching the racing official with the green flag intently. As soon as it was dropped, he shot out onto the track, Chick right beside him.

"Good break, Kiddo," Doc said.

"Thanks," Lightning replied as Chick shot past him and settled in front of him. Lightning didn't object to Chick's move; now he could settle in Chick's bump draft.

Lightning remained in Chick's bump draft for about one hundred and fifty laps. The race itself was only two hundred and fifty laps, which was very short.

"Come on in for a pit stop, Rookie," Doc said. "There was a wreck in turn three so we have a caution flag."

"Okay," Lightning said. At pit lane, Lightning pulled off the track and into his pit area. Guido quickly replaced all Lightning's tires and Fillmore filled him with gas.

"Thanks!" Lightning called as he shot away from the pit area and back onto the track to resume his position in second place.

For the next ninety laps the race went smoothly. There was a wreck involving Hollister and Dale Junior, so that narrowed the major competition down considerably.

"Okay, Kiddo," Doc said over the intercom system when there were ten laps left in the race. "Start making your move."

Lightning increased his speed and started to gain on Chick. He moved to the outside and started passing him. When Chick saw Lightning coming, he quickly shut him out.

When he was shut out, Lightning shot to the inside and overtook Chick. Over the years, this had become Lightning's signature move. The positive side to this move was that there was really no way for Chick to prevent it, unless he did not shut Lightning out.

The only negative effect the move had was that it was very stressful on Lightning's wheel axle.

"Good work, Rookie," Doc said. "I think you have the race won."

"Don't jinx me, Doc," Lightning said, laughing.

Doc's words did not jinx Lightning. Lightning led the remainder of the race and ended up winning by ten lengths without pressing himself at all.

As much as Lightning regretted it, it was time to announce his retirement to the racing world. Up on the platform in victory lane, Lightning accepted his trophy and then drove up to the microphone.

"First of all, I'd like to thank the staff here at the track for their excellent hospitality," Lightning said, speaking into the microphone to a silent audience. "And secondly, I'd like to make an announcement." Lightning paused for a moment as the audience held its breath. "This is my last season in the Piston Cup circuit. I've been here for seventeen years, and I've achieved every goal I set out to meet. My old injuries have been flaring up a little too, and I think it's time to turn in the numbers."

The crowd seemed to be in shock. Slowly, they started clapping, and soon enough, the entire crowd was cheering for Lightning. Lightning grinned in appreciation.

At the foot of the stage, the press was going crazy. They were frantically calling questions up to Lightning in raised tones.

"Lightning! What are your plans after you finish this season?" one reporter inquired.

"I haven't really thought about it," Lightning admitted. "Rayne is racing in the Junior League now, so I'll probably travel with her."

The media bombarded Lightning with more questions. He answered a few of them and then left the stage. Both Doc and Rayne were waiting for him at the bottom of the ramp.

The McQueen racing team quickly returned to the trailers, packed their belongings, and set out on the road for their next destination.

A month passed. Rayne won two of her four races and Lightning won three of his.

Rayne was training beautifully. She was well-known by now and was respected and viewed as a strong competitor by her fellow racers. Rayne also contained her ego very well. With every win, she grew more and more tactful without Lightning having to say anything to her.

"Good workout," Lightning said after Rayne got off the track one Wednesday.

"Thanks," Rayne said, grinning widely. She had just completed a successful endurance workout.

"I think you're ready for the race Saturday," Lightning said. "You've taken well to this track."

"I like it," Rayne agreed. "It's much better than last week's track," she added with a grimace.

In the fourth turn of the last lap of last week's race, Rayne had slipped when trying to execute her slingshot move and come in third to Storm and another car. She mildly sprained her front left wheel axle in the process.

"How's the axle feeling?" Lightning asked for the billionth time since last Saturday.

"Much better," Rayne replied, leaning onto the axle.

"Good," Lightning said. "Doc wasn't sure if he wanted you training today."

"I barely felt anything," Rayne said, a satisfied look on her delicate face.

"Good," Lightning said. "Doc already said the thinks you're in the clear. He's a little paranoid about injuries though. You have me to thank for that."

Rayne laughed. "Yeah, really," she agreed. "But I need to get back to school. I'll see you at six."

"Okay," Lightning said. "I'll see you later."

"Bye," Rayne said, turning around. As she drove back to the track school, Storm drove over to Rayne and drove next to her. He said something to Rayne, making her laugh.

Lightning frowned.

"Doc, look at that," he said unhappily. "I didn't know they talked to one another."

"You didn't?" Doc asked, driving next to Lightning. "They've been talking to one another for a while now."

"How long is a while?" Lightning asked.

"Oh, I'd say two weeks or so," Doc replied. He saw Lightning's troubled expression. "I'm sure it's nothing."

"I hope it's nothing," Lightning replied grimly.

That evening, Rayne returned to the trailer at six.

"How was the rest of your day?" Lightning asked, in what he hoped was a casual voice.

"Fine," Rayne replied.

"I saw you talking to Storm," Lightning said.

"Yeah," Rayne said. "He's my friend. We get along well."

"I would think you kept away from him," Lightning said. "He's your number one competitor."

"So?" Rayne asked with a defensive edge to her voice. "He's a really cool car."

"His father almost ruined my career!" Lightning said, starting to get angry. "And his mother and I don't have the best history either!"

"So?" Rayne asked, raising her voice angrily. "Just because his parents aren't great doesn't mean he's the way they are!"

"I just don't want you to socialize with him!" Lightning said, also raising his voice.

"Too bad!" Rayne yelled. "He's the first real friend I've ever had, and just because he doesn't have a great family doesn't mean he isn't a good car!"

And with that, Rayne sped up the ramp to the trailer and slammed the door shut.

**Author's Note: Okay, so not the mushy all-is-good ending like last chapter..I'm not so fond of this chapter myself, but I've been sick so the writing was kind of rushed to get the update on time, sorry if the chapter kind of sucked..**

**Also, sorry the chapter was really short. As I said, I was sick, and also, what I had mapped out for this chapter wasn't nearly as long as I thought it would be. **

**I promise I'll make up for all of chapter four's short-comings! Please review!!**

**Oh, and Merry Christmas! And to those who do not celebrate Christmas, Happy Holidays!!**


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Lightning woke up at six to the now customary throbbing in his wheel axle. He groaned quietly and lowered the ramp to his trailer. Lightning rolled down the ramp inaudibly so he would not wake his daughter.

A sense of misery had settled upon Lightning and he would not figure out why. Then the memory of his fight with Rayne crashed down upon him. That explained the sense of misery…

Doc was settled next to his trailer, reading the paper.

"Morning," he said, glancing up from the headline.

Lightning jumped. He was so consumed in his thoughts he had not noticed Doc.

"Hey," Lightning said distractedly.

"What's up, Rookie," Doc asked, his brow furrowed.

"Rayne and I got in a fight last night," Lightning sighed.

"Over Storm?" Doc asked shrewdly, looking back down at the newspaper.

"Yeah," Lightning said. He drove over and parked next to Doc. "Do you think I'm being too critical of him?""Well," Doc said, looking up from the paper again. "That's a tough one, Kiddo. You have every right to be skeptical, but at the same time, you need to give your daughter's judgment a chance. She's in new surrounding, and they're a completely different world than what Radiator Springs is. Rayne has never had a chance to meet new cars before. You need to let her live and learn. If Storm ends up being a jerk, she'll learn from it, and if he turns out to be a respectable car despite his bloodlines, then it's great she made a good friend."

"That's true," Lightning said begrudgingly. "I'm just worried about how Rayne will take it if Storm ends up being a jerk."

"Kid, has she ever displayed any qualities of a push over?" Doc asked, raising an eyebrow. "If he does something nasty, she's going to kick him in the lug nuts."

Lightning chuckled. "That's true," he said. "What time am I supposed to be on the track this morning?"

"We should go now," Doc said, shifting gears and driving away from the spot he parked in.

Lightning followed his crew chief from the trailers in the infield to the entrance to the track.

"Take a couple warm-up laps and stretch your axle," Doc instructed. "Then we'll talk about your training session for today."

"Okay," Lightning said. He drove onto the smooth surface and got up to ninety miles per hour. Lightning stayed at ninety for one lap and then sped up to one hundred and twenty miles per hour for his second warm-up lap. After he completed his second warm-up lap, he pulled over to Doc and stretched his axle, cringing at the familiar pull on his underside.

"How's the axle feeling?" Doc asked, surveying Lightning's stretching exercises.

"It's sore," Lightning admitted. "But I can handle it."

Doc nodded, pondering on what Lightning should do as a workout. After a few moments, he made up his mind.

"We're going to take it easy," he said.

Lightning began to protest, but Doc's death glare quickly silenced him.

"You're sore," Doc said. "I don't want you to push yourself too hard today. I want you to go around the track three times at top sped. Every time you pass a car, act like they're shutting you out and do the move you use to get around Chick."

Lightning nodded. "I can do that," he said, beginning to drive back out onto the track. Lightning got onto the track and took off, going as fast as he could. He came up on his first car and used his signature move on it easily.

"Good work, Kiddo," Doc said in an approving tone.

"Thanks," Lightning replied. He continued at his expeditious pace to the next car. At this car, Lightning threw his wheels to the right and heard a sharp pop.

Pain seared from his wheel axle. Lightning slammed on brakes so he could evaluate the injury.

"You okay, Rookie?" Doc asked, panic evident in his voice.

"I don't think it's broken," Lightning said, grimacing as he pulled into the emergency lane on the inside of the track. He tested his weight on the throbbing axle. Although it shook violently, it still supported the weight.

Within seconds, Doc was beside Lightning, evaluating his movement.

"I want x-rays," Doc said. "By now you seem to be able to tell the severity of your injuries, but I want to make sure everything is okay."

Lightning nodded in agreement. He followed Doc into the clinic building with his weight distributed on three tires.

"You were right," Doc said twenty minutes later as he held Lightning's x-rays up to light. "No breaks, or fractures for that matter."

"Good," Lightning said, sighing in relief.

"There is a lot of swelling though," Doc said frowning. "I think you should sit this week out."

"No way," Lightning said promptly. "This season is going too well, Doc. If I sit this week out, Chick will get ahead of me in points."

"It's your choice," Doc said, not seeming happy with Lightning's quick judgment.

Ten minutes later, Lightning and Doc were driving back to the trailers. Lightning was favoring his axle, but the pain had subsided a bit. As Lightning and Doc rounded the corner to the trailers, Lightning stopped dead in his tracks, Doc doing the same.

There, right in front of them, but their trailers, Rayne and Storm were kissing. Actually, in Lightning's opinion, it was more than kissing, mainly because it was very passionate.

A few moments later, Rayne and Storm broke apart. They smiled at one another, got their books, and headed for school.

Lightning started angrily after his daughter, but Doc stopped him.

"Relax," he said quietly, as though he was in shock himself. ""If you go after her now, you're bound to make things worse. Take a little time to cool off first."

"You're right," Lightning sighed, watching his daughter and her boyfriend driving away.

"What the hell am I supposed to do?" Lightning asked ten minutes later as he paced back and forth in front of Doc and the speakerphone Sally was connected to. "I can't leave her alone now!"

"Calm down, Sweetie," Sally said calmly. "When you say kissing, what exactly do you mean?"

"What are you talking about?" Lightning asked heatedly, continuing to pace. "A kiss is a kiss is a kiss."

"Not exactly," Sally said. She hesitated before asking, "Was there tongue?"

"Oh, there was everything!" Lightning exclaimed. "Doc can vouch for me on this!"

"Maybe she was planning to tell you, but the way you reacted to her just talking to Storm scared her," Sally suggested. "From what it sounds like, you weren't exactly accepting when she announced their friendship."

"Our daughter was making out with my rival's son!" Lightning exclaimed angrily. He turned sharply to begin pacing in the other direction, but his wheel axle gave a throb of protest, causing Lightning to wince and moan in pain.

"Easy on that axle," Doc scolded. "You're already injured it enough today, and it's not even noon yet."

"What happened to your axle?" Sally asked.

"It made a weird noise this morning in my workout," Lightning said. "Nothing really"

"He nearly re-broke it _agai__n_," Doc said into the receiver. "He's lucky there's only swelling"

"Is he racing Sunday?" Sally asked.

"Yeah," Lightning said, answering for Doc. He began pacing feverishly again once the pain had subsided a bit.

"Should you be?" Sally asked.

"I'm fine!" Lightning exclaimed. "Am I the only one here who is concerned about the fact that Rayne is swapping spit with the enemy?"

"Lightning, calm down," Sally said. "Storm isn't the enemy. He's your rival's son. For all we know, he's a perfectly nice gentlecar."

"Genetics are a strong force," Lightning argued.

"Lightning," Sally said in a softer tone. "Rayne can't be daddy's little girl forever. Obviously, there is a very large problem if they do anything more than kiss, but Rayne needs to test her new home and figure out how it works, and she needs to do it on her own. Sheltered cars don't turn out well in the long run."

"That's what Doc said earlier," Lightning sighed. "What do I do if she doesn't tell me the truth?"

"She would be lying," Sally said simply. "You need to tell her you know if she starts lying about the relationship, but give her time to tell you."

"All of this is so confusing!" Lightning huffed. He swiftly turned around and started pacing in the other direction.

"Welcome to parenthood," Sally said dryly.

That evening at six, Lightning was watching for Rayne out of his trailer's window. He wanted to see if Storm was going to drive Rayne back to the trailer.

Sure enough, five minutes later, Rayne came home with Storm at her side. Rayne glanced around the McQueen area to check for Lightning or Doc, and then, to Lightning's horror, drove into a kiss from Storm.

"They're kissing again!" Lightning hissed to Doc, who was watching television in the other half of the trailer.

"You're being hypocritical," Doc said.

"I am not," Lightning said indignantly. "I'm looking out for the well-being of my daughter."

"That's what you call it," Doc said. "I call it stalking. You need to mellow out about his. You remember what happened when I intervened with you and Sally, don't you?"

"That's different," Lightning replied stubbornly. "Rayne is only fifteen! I was twenty-one when that happened. I could make my own decisions."

"Yeah, that worked out well," Doc said, never taking his eyes off the plasma screen. "Because your decision-making skills were so great, you ended up on the sidelines for a year, and you're still suffering from the consequences sixteen years later."

"Whose side are you on?" Lightning asked angrily.

Outside the trailer, Rayne pulled away from Storm. She smiled and said something to Storm before he pulled away.

"I'm not on anyone's side," Doc said evenly. "This whole thing is ridiculous. You're spying on your daughter. Sure, I think she could probably choose a better car to date, but there is no need for you to react to this in the way you are. Just give the kid a chance."

Lightning sighed. "I am overreacting," he admitted, "but I didn't think I'd have to go through this this early."

"This isn't early, Kiddo," Doc said. "A lot of cars are already producing offspring by this point."

Lightning shuddered. "Don't say that," he said shakily.

Doc laughed. "Rayne's not that type of car, Kiddo. She got her mom's conscience." Doc paused before adding, "Thanks goodness," in an undertone.

Lightning did not hear Doc's snide comment. "She is a good kid," he agreed. "I'm going to talk to her."

"Have fun," Doc replied.

Lightning lowered the ramp to his trailer. Rayne was parked reading over a school book next to the trailer.

"Hey," Lightning said.

"Hi," Rayne said curtly. She obviously had not forgotten about their argument from the previous night.

"I'm sorry about the way I acted last night," Lightning said, looking into Rayne's eyes, which was like looking in a mirror.

"Really?" Rayne asked suspiciously.

"Yeah," Lightning said. "I didn't give him a fair chance. Just because I don't get along with his parents doesn't mean their son isn't a perfectly nice guy."

"Thanks, Dad," Rayne said, smiling at her father. She hesitated before saying, "He asked me to go to dinner with him tonight. Do you think I could?"

Lightning's insides gave an uncomfortable lurch. "Sure," he said, forcing a happy tone. "Where are you guys going on the date?"

"Oh, it's not a date," Rayne said. "We're only friends."

"Really," Lightning asked, shocked at the fact his daughter would lie directly to his face.

"Yeah," Rayne said easily.

"Okay then," Lightning said. "Where will you two be going on the date that isn't a date?"

"I don't know," Rayne said. "I'm supposed to go to his trailer at six-fifteen."

"Oh, okay," Lightning said. "Just be back by nine-thirty at the latest!"

"Okay, Dad," Rayne said, a wide grin on her face. She hugged her father and sped away.

"Just friends my bumper," Lightning said to himself. He turned around, wincing as his wheel axle gave a throb.

That night, Lightning got his radio and an icepack and was settled outside his trailer by eight-thirty, awaiting Rayne's return. He hummed along with a song he liked and sat there on his icepack, which helped relieve the pain from his wheel axle.

The axle had been very painful all day, but at about seven, the pain escalated. Doc announced he would physically stop Lightning from racing Sunday if he did not improve drastically.

Doc pulled up five minutes later with dinner for both he and Lightning. He passed Lightning his electrolyte fuel, took his blueberry fuel and parked next to Lightning.

"How is the axle?" Doc asked, taking a sip of his fuel.

"About the same," Lightning replied.

"You might need an MRI," Doc said. "You probably did some damage to the tendons or ligaments around the axle."

"No," Lightning said. "Even if there is an injury, I don't want to know about it. This is my last season, and I just want to race."

For the first time in Lightning's racing career, Doc did not argue.

"Aren't you going to say that I'm being stupid or stubborn?" Lightning asked, shooting Doc a suspicious sideways glance.

Doc seemed to contemplate on what he was going to say for a minute.

"It's against all my medical judgment," Doc admitted slowly, "but I can see what you mean. You're sick of going through this over and over again, and you're ready for it all to stop. The less attention you give your injuries, the faster the season goes."

"Exactly," Lightning said, very thankful Doc understood. "The seasons where I broke my wheel axle were so long with the recoveries and getting back into shape, it seemed to take forever to get to the Dinoco 400. I'm just ready for it all to be over."

Doc gave him a wry smile. "Okay, Rookie," he said. "I can't say I blame you. I never thought I'd hear you say you wanted to be done racing."

"It's not that I want to be done racing," Lightning said, wincing as his wheel axle gave a particularly nasty throb. I'm just going to be glad when I can stop worrying about whether or not my wheel axle is going to snap in the middle of a race."

Doc nodded. "It's legitimate," he said.

"And I can be around everything I love about racing because we'll travel around with Rayne," Lightning said.

"That's true," Doc agreed.

Twenty minutes later, Rayne arrived at the trailer.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" Lightning asked.

"Yeah," Rayne said. "He's a really nice car, Dad. He has a lot of respect for you."

Lightning nodded. "I think I judged him a little too quickly," he said. "But you need to get some sleep. Your race is in two days."

"I'm about to turn in," Rayne said. She packed her books into a neat stack, carried them into the trailer, and went to sleep.

"I don't care how much respect he has for me," Lightning said to Doc. "I still don't trust him."

By Saturday, Lightning's wheel axle had not improved. It was very sore, and it sent a searing pain shooting through the axle whenever he turned too sharply. He had not trained since his disastrous workout on Thursday.

"You know I don't want you racing tomorrow, right?" Doc asked as he put his headphones on for Rayne's race.

"I know," Lightning said, testing his weight on his wheel axle, which shook violently underneath him.

"That doesn't look so good," came a familiar voice from behind Lightning.

Lightning turned around quickly to see Sally parked behind him.

"Hey!" Lightning said, engulfing his wife in a huge hug. He kissed her and backed away a few inches.

"Hey," Sally said, smiling at Lightning.

"What are you doing here?" Lightning asked, thrilled his wife had come to surprise him.

"I missed you three," Sally said. "I decided it was about time for me to come see you two race again."

"I'm glad," Lightning said. He pulled up next to Doc, Sally right beside him.

"Rookie here won't be racing tomorrow if I have anything to say about it," Doc said, shooting a sideways glance at Lightning.

"Why?" Sally asked, her brow furrowed and traces of worry crossing her face. "Is this the same thing we were talking about on the phone about on Thursday.

"Yeah. He's done something to mess it up again," Doc said. "The x-rays were negative, so I'm guessing he did something to the tissue around the axle."

"Lightning!" Sally sighed, giving her husband a look of pity.

"Don't give me that look!" Lightning said. "It's not like I mean to hurt it!"

"I know," Sally said. "But I do think you're the most accident-prone car ever."

"I second that," Doc said.

"Yeah," Lightning agreed. "That is a possibility."

Just then, the loud speaker announced it was time for all the Junior racers to get on the track.

"Where is Rayne?" Sally asked.

Lightning scowled. "Over there," he said, gesturing to where Rayne and Storm were talking to one another.

"She's lying about dating him," Lightning said. "According to Rayne, they're just friends."

"Really?" Sally asked, surprise in her voice. "She needs to know it's not acceptable to lie like that."

"I was going to talk to her after the race today," Lightning said grimly.

"Have you seen them kissing more than that one time?" Sally asked, not taking her eyes off the young couple.

"Oh yeah," Lightning said. "Twice on Thursday and twice yesterday. I haven't seen them yet today, but it's only one."

"This might be a bigger problem than I thought," Sally said. "It's fine that she has a boyfriend, but the fact that she's keeping him a secret is not good."

"Yeah," Lightning said, watching Rayne line up on the track next to Storm.

The green flag out on the track was dropped ad Lightning, Doc, and Sally watched the beginning of the race unfold. Rayne drifted to the inside and Storm drove ahead of her. Rayne kept in Storm's bump draft for a majority of the race. The actual race was only two hundred laps, a distance both Rayne and Storm could easily sprint, so Lightning was not worried when both cars increased the distance from the rest of the pack.

At Rayne's first pit stop one hundred laps into the race, she was still in second behind Storm. The two were an entire lap ahead of the rest of the Junior racers.

"Good work so far, Kiddo," Doc said as Rayne slowed down for a pit stop.

"Thanks," Rayne said. She glanced up and saw her mother.

"Mom!" Rayne said. "What are you doing here?"

"Go, Kiddo!" Doc exclaimed.

"Sorry!" Rayne said. She grinned up to her parents and Doc before speeding off, resuming her spot behind Storm.

Ninety laps later, Doc instructed Rayne to start making her move.

"Start moving up a little, Kid," Doc said. "Try to get even with him so you're at a better position to move ahead in the end."

Lightning saw Rayne respond by moving to the outside and increasing her speed. She got even with Storm and stayed there for a lap until Storm took off at his usual blistering speed.

Rayne took off after Storm and matched his speed. Both cars were perfectly even for seven laps; Lightning doubted even a photo finish could distinguish who was ahead of who.

In the last lap, both cars increased their speeds to two hundred and ten miles per hour, which was insanely fast for two fifteen-year-olds.

Around turns one, two, and three, the cars changed leads constantly. First, Rayne was in the lead, then Storm, then Rayne again.

"She needs to use her slingshot move!" Lightning said, excitement in his voice.

Out on the track, Rayne and Storm swept into turn four.

"Okay, use the move," Lightning murmured.

Rayne did not even attempt to do her move. She didn't drive deeply into the corner, or pick up speed. The speed duel continued down the last portion of the track, but right before the finish, Storm surged ahead and won.

"Damn it!" Lightning said angrily. "Why the hell didn't Rayne use her move?"

"Watch your mouth," Sally said. Although her tone was even, her facial expressions showed deep disappointment in her daughter's second place finish. "I'm sure she tried her best."

"I'm not so sure she did, Sally," Lighting said. "She was set up to execute that move perfectly but she didn't. What do you think, Doc?"

"Something is up," Doc agreed. He looked down from his crew chief podium at Lightning and Sally. "I need to get a tape of the race," he said before backing off the podium and driving away.

"Why does he need a tape of the race?" Sally asked.

"I'm sure he thinks he saw something," Lightning said grimly. "Doc has a good eye out there. He doesn't miss anything."

Just then, Rayne drove up to her parents.

"Hey," Rayne said.

"What happened out there?" Lightning asked.

"What do you mean?" Rayne asked, faking stupidity.

"Why did you lose?" Lightning asked bluntly.

"I didn't win," Rayne said, false anger flooding through her voice. "I came in second! That's good! A lot of cars would be thrilled to come in second place!"

"You know very well that isn't what I mean," Lightning said angrily. "You had that race won, and then you blew it!"

"Mom!" Rayne said, spinning to face her mother. "Do you hear what he's saying? He's crazy!"

"I'm not getting into this," Sally said evenly. "This is your argument with your father. I don't know enough about racing to get involved."

"I can't believe you think I lost a race on purpose!" Rayne said furiously, turning back to her father.

With that, Rayne sped away, towards the Hicks trailers.

Lightning sighed and shut his eyes. He drove back to his trailer with Sally in his wake.

Once they were back at the trailer, Lightning got an icepack and parked on top of it. He glared at the empty space ahead of him.

"Lightning," Sally said. "Relax a little bit."

"How can I, Sally?" Lightning asked. "I went against everything I originally said about her racing, and now she's taking advantage of it!"

Sally drove up to Lightning and kissed him softly.

"She's young, and this is her first boyfriend," Sally said, her lips still touching Lightning's. "I know that's not an excuse, but it explains her actions."

"I know," Lightning sighed, "but she needs to learn she can't just sacrifice a win like that. It's not fair to herself."

Sally backed away from Lightning and parked beside him. "I know," she said. "I'm sorry."

The couple sat in silence; both cars were lost in thought.

Just then, Doc pulled up. He did not look happy.

"What is it?" Lightning asked urgently. "What did the tape reveal?"

"In the last two seconds of the race, I thought the sun was reflecting off Rayne's break lights," Doc said heavily. "I was wrong. She was breaking. She did lose on purpose."

An hour and a half later, Rayne rolled into the McQueen trailer area.

"Where were you?" Lightning asked, getting off his icepack.

"I was hanging out with Storm," Rayne said defensively.

"I should have known," Lightning said harshly. "He _is_ your boyfriend after all."

"Dad!" Rayne exclaimed. "We're just friends! I already told you that."

"Your lips say one thing now, and a whole different thing when they're touching Storm's," Lightning said, almost smirking.

Rayne's face went blank. "You saw that?" she asked in a small voice. Tears filled her blue eyes and began spilling over.

"Several times," Lightning said in a dangerously low voice. "And we also have it on tape that you lost on purpose today, so I suggest you don't try to deny that either. Go to the trailer, and don't expect to be hanging out with your 'just friend' anytime in the near future."

Rayne emitted a single sob as she sped up the ramp to the trailer.

Lightning sighed and looked at Doc and Sally. They both wore grim expressions that mirrored his own.

**A/N: Okay, so another not happy ending..oh well. **

**I felt so bad about the quality of the last chapter, I wrote this one and gave you guys a fast update. Hah. I must say I like this chapter a lot better than the last one..and it helps that this chapter is 4080 words..I'm kind of proud. Haha. **

**Anyway, I'm posting this chapter now because my horse and I are going on a weekend trip together and I realized I wouldn't be home to post this chapter. The next update should be before a week from Saturday, but you guys know how hectic life can be..**

**Thanks for reading, and please review!!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Here's chapter six for you!! We're at the midway mark, so I hope you're enjoying it so far!**

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Rayne's reaction to her father's scolding quickly turned from tears to rage. In fact, Rayne seemed so angry with her father (and vice versa), the two cars hardly spoke to one another at all over the next two months.

Over those two months, Lightning won six races and Rayne won four.

"Ouch!"

"What did you do now, Rookie?" Doc asked, looking around the corner of the trailer.

"Nothing," Lightning mumbled, stopping for a moment to let the searing in his wheel axle die down. He turned his wheels a little too sharply, resulting in the harsh pain radiating from his undercarriage.

From ten meters away, Rayne had glanced up at her father's outburst, but looked away with a bored expression on her face when she learned it was just Lightning's wheel axle acting up again.

After the pain had subsided, Lightning returned to his task of unloading the trailer. He avoided looking to where his daughter was reading in a ray of sunlight. His feelings of resentment towards her dating situation, or what the media was calling "Rayne-Storm" (Lightning was repulsed), were still strong, but he missed his daughter. Lightning was even starting to miss Rayne's quirks, suck as her slightly inflated ego.

Eventually, Lightning's self-control failed him, and he looked to where Rayne was parked. Lightning could tell whatever Rayne was reading interested her. She seemed to absorb every work as her lips silently read the text.

A moment later, Storm rolled over to where Rayne was parked from across the parking lot. He drove up to Rayne and kissed her. Rayne smiled and kissed Storm back, her blue eyes wandering over to where Lightning was parked.

Lightning looked away quickly. He cautiously turned around to see Doc watching him.

"You miss her."

"Yeah, I do," Lightning said, a melancholy expression darkening his face. "A lot."

"Apologize to her," Doc suggested.

"It's a two-way deal, Doc," Lightning sighed. "It's not as simple as it sounds."

"I know," Doc said. "I think she misses you too though."

"Maybe so," Lightning said, once again returning to unpack the trailer. He unloaded the remainder of his belongings from the trailer and set up camp for the next week. He situated himself on top of his icepack and decided to take a nap.

The warm sun rays hit Lightning and warmed him comfortably. Before he knew it, he was fast asleep.

When Lightning woke up, he was blinded by a magnificent sunset. He was at his favorite track in the country, the Tampa Bay International Speedway. He liked it for its climate and he raced well in the track.

"Did you have a good nap?" Doc asked, glancing up from the forms he was filling out.

"Yeah," Lightning said, stretching gingerly. He glanced around the camp. "Where's Rayne?"

"She and Storm left an hour ago to eat," Doc said.

Lightning nodded. His daughter ate dinner with Storm every night. At first, it was Rayne's way of annoying Lightning, but it since turned into a habit.

"She has to stop losing on purpose," Doc said heavily. "I think the track officials are getting suspicious."

"They are?" Lightning asked uncomfortably. He did not want Rayne to get suspended from the P.C.J.L.

"Well, I don't know for sure," Doc said, "but they're making it obvious. They're alternating weeks for heaven's sakes!"

"I know," Lightning said unhappily. "But I'm not talking to her about it."

"She's your kid!" Doc said heatedly.

"My all but estranged kid," Lightning replied sadly. "Why don't you talk to her?"

"I just assume one of us have good relations with her," Doc said dryly. "And I'm not her father."

"You're as good as her father," Lightning said. "She likes you a hell of a lot better than me right now."

"That's not true," Doc said. "She loves you. That's why she's not speaking to you. She's afraid of disappointing you. If she didn't care about your opinion, she'd be more social than she's acting right now."

"Maybe," Lightning said slowly. His tank then rumbled. "I'm starving. Do you want to get something to eat?"

"Sure," Doc said. "I don't feel like fighting off your crazed fans though. Let's just get something to eat at the track restaurant."

"You read my mind," Lightning said.

The racecar and crew chief drove to the center of the restricted sections where the track diner was situated. Lightning and Doc drove into the structure and parked in a dining spot.

"Rayne said she was eating here, right?" Lightning asked, scanning the room for his daughter.

"Yeah," Doc said. "Why?

"She's not here," Lightning said, frowning.

Doc quickly scanned the room over. "Well where is she?" he asked.

"Believe me, I'd love to know," Lightning said grimly. "I'm going back to the trailer to wait on her."

Doc nodded. "I'll bring you something back," he said.

"Thanks," Lightning said. He quickly drove back to the trailer, almost running into several cars in his haste.

Rayne was not back at the trailer when Lightning got there. He looked around camp and checked both trailers, but Rayne was not there.

"Where is she?" Lightning asked under his breath. As much as he absolutely loathed the idea, he knew he was going to have to go to Chick's trailer.

Lightning sighed and set off to his rival's lime green trailer. He drove at a fairly swift pace, though it was slightly slower than his previous one.

When he got there Chick was in deep conversation with his wife, (and Lightning's ex-fiancé) Halli. When Chick realized Lightning was there, he shot him a strange look. He broke away from Halli and drove over to Lightning.

"What do you want, McQueen?" he asked, although his expression conveyed he already knew what Lightning was there for.

"Is Rayne here, Chick?" Lightning asked quietly. He felt run-down and almost sick. All he wanted to do was find his daughter.

"She and my son are eating at the track diner," Chick said, acknowledging Lightning's defeated stance.

"They're not there," Lightning said heavily. "I was just there."

Chick's face went blank for a moment. "They're not there?" he asked.

"No," Lightning said. He hesitated before asking something he had been planning to as Chick for a while. "Chick, listen," he began. "I know we have a lot of differences, but I'm pretty sure we have the same opinion about my daughter and your son dating one another."

"I haven't spoken to Storm in six weeks," Chick said. "I tried to be open about it, but he's just pushing us away. He's gone all the time, and the time he's here, he's doing something by himself."

"That sounds really familiar," Lightning said.

"What should we do?" Chick asked, looking Lightning square in the eye.

"I don't know if there's anything we can do," Lightning sighed.

Chick nodded glumly.

"If you see her, just tell her to come back to our trailer," Lightning said, pulling away.

"Okay," Chick said. "Do the same for us."

"Will do," Lightning said. He drove several circuits around the large parking lot in search of his daughter, but he could not see her or her boyfriend.

Feeling both worried and conquered, Lightning headed back to the trailer. He paced back and forth for a while, trying to think of where his daughter could be.

"What do you need?"

Lightning jumped and turned around to see Rayne parked ten feet away from him.

"What do I need?" Lightning asked testily. "What do _I_ need? Oh I don't know, maybe I _need_ to know where my fifteen year old daughter and her boyfriend are. Maybe I _need_ her to stop lying about where she is every evening! Don't even try to tell me you were at the track restaurant. I know you weren't there."

Rayne seemed frozen and then her blue eyes narrowed. You were spying on me, weren't you?"

"Hah!" Lightning scoffed. "Spying? Try this: Doc and I were hungry and you weren't there. I can't even eat a meal without you tearing me away to go looking for you."

"You weren't looking for me," Rayne challenged. "You were just sitting there."

"I had been looking," Lightning said in a low dangerous voice that made a quick crescendo to a powerful one. "I even went to talk to Chick about where you could be. Whether you like it or not, Rayne, I am your father, and whether or not you like it, I still care about you. There's no changing that."

Rayne was obviously shocked. Not about her father caring about her, but the fact that he admitted it out loud, especially after two months of not speaking to him.

"So where were you?" Lightning asked in the low dangerous voice once again.

Rayne was silent for a while. "He took me into town and we ate at a nice restaurant." She hesitated before adding, "we've been dating three months, and he wanted to be nice and take me to a real restaurant."

Lightning gave a curt nod and drove away. The story fit. Rayne had been dating Storm for about a month behind his back before their argument. As much as he hated to admit it, he did not see the dispute resolving anytime soon.

The next evening, Lightning was parked next to his radio reading a book on alternate therapies for pain relief. Because racecars weren't allowed to use pain fuel, and his pain had escalated once again, he was desperate for some reprieve.

"I'm going to Storm's trailer."

Lightning glanced up. He saw Rayne parked in front of him in a fairly defensive stance.

Lightning nodded and looked back down to his book to continue reading. After reading another chapter, Lightning read that emotional pain could present itself in the form of physical pain.

Lightning quickly cast the book aside, muttering about the dumb idea, calling it a 'hippie book.'

Suddenly, a black and blue blur appeared out of the corner of his eye. It was Rayne, barreling back to the trailer. She swerved around a car, using her talent of avoiding collisions.

It was then Lightning realized Rayne was not alone. Storm was right behind her, shouting her name.

From beside Lightning, Doc looked up interestedly from the medical journal he had been reading to watch the scene in front of him unfold.

"Get the hell away from me, Storm!" Rayne shrieked, spinning around to face the car that was in pursuit of her. "I saw you! Don't even try to lie to me! Just go!"

"But Rayne-" Storm said, trying to talk over Rayne, but failing miserably.

"No!" Rayne shouted. "I'm not listening to you!"

"But I love you!" Storm yelled.

Rayne let out a harsh laugh. "My ass you do," she said. "We're over. Get out of here."

Recognizing defeat, Storm turned around and drove away.

All of the interested bystanders that had accumulated dispersed and that left Lightning, Rayne, and Doc alone in the McQueen camp.

"Well," Doc said, grabbing his medical journal, "I'll leave you two to work things out." He drove over to his trailer and up the ramp a little faster than usual.

"What's going on?" Lightning asked, still absorbing what he had just witnessed. "And since when do you curse?"

"I was driving over to his trailer and I saw him…he was…Storm cheated on me," Rayne said, keeping a cool composure. She kept the composure for about two seconds. Rayne flung herself onto her father, sobbing hysterically.

"He _what_?" Lightning asked, feeling as though he had been hit by a tractor trailer.

"He was kissing Hollister's daughter!" Rayne choked out. "A-and then he tried to act as if _she_ was trying to kiss _him_. He lied to my face!"

Lightning noticed his daughter's hypocrisy, but he did not say anything about it. She needed his support, and no matter how alienated their relationship had been during the past couple months, he would always be there for her.

"I'm so sorry, Honey," Lightning said, stroking the side of Rayne's titanium comfortingly. I know you really cared about him."

Another sob racked through Rayne's body as she clung onto her father a little harder.

"You're not the one who should be sorry," Rayne said miserably. "I'm the one who was awful. I deserted my family for two months just for that cheating jerk."

"You didn't know he was at the time," Lightning said.

"Even so, I missed you guys so much," Rayne sobbed. "I-I-I was so shallow. I just thought he was the one for me."

"You thought he was the one for you?" Lightning asked. "Like a spouse?"

Rayne sniffed and nodded. "He told me he was going to marry me."

"Rayne, you're fifteen years old. I was twenty-one when your mother and I started dating, and that's even a little early," Lightning said. "This is partially my fault. You've been isolated from cars your age. You didn't know how to handle yourself in a relationship. You've never observed how to resist peer pressure before. I'm just thankful you didn't do anything drastic."

"Define drastic," Rayne sniffed. "He took advantage of me."

"You didn't sleep with him, did you?" Lightning said nervously, not knowing if he really wanted to know the answer.

"Of course not," Rayne said, somewhat indignantly. "I may have really liked him, but I wouldn't have done anything stupid. When you said drastic, I thought you meant making out."

Lightning felt a rush of gratitude towards his daughter. He was so thankful she had good sense.

"No, I knew about that," he said. "And I'm very proud of you."

"Why?" Rayne asked, sniffing again. "I was awful to you. I deserted you for a conceited loser who only cares about sex."

"What?" Lightning asked, surprised at his daughter's last comment.

"He only cared about sex," Rayne said simply. "He pressured me constantly. He actually threatened to dump me a few times because I wouldn't sleep with him."

"How did you talk him out of that?" Lightning asked, probing for information.

Rayne scrunched up her face in an expression of disgust. The expression made Lightning incredibly apprehensive about the reply he was about to receive.

"I begged," she said quietly. "I told him I just wasn't ready. He said there was nothing to be ready for, that it was just something you do, but I always managed to get him to drop the subject."

Lightning pulled his daughter into a tight hug. "I'm very proud of you," he said. "No matter how rocky our relationship was, you've redeemed yourself to me."

Rayne gave her father a watery smile.

"Thanks, Dad," she said. "But I need some time alone. You don't need the trailer right now, do you?"

"No, go ahead," Lightning said. "I love you, Kiddo."

"I love you too, Dad," Rayne said, giving her father one last smile before heading back to the trailer.

As Rayne drove away, Lightning realized his wheel axle did not hurt anymore.

The next morning, Lightning did not wake up to the customary throbbing in his wheel axle. He was woken up by an irate Doc Hudson.

"Come on, Sleeping Beauty!" Doc said heatedly, banging on the side of the trailer. "I don't have all day! You're a racecar! That means you have to get up to train!"

For obvious reasons, both Lightning and Rayne woke up with a jump. Lightning lowered the ramp to the trailer and rolled down.

"What time is it?" Lightning asked blearily.

"Seven-thirty!" Doc said. "Why didn't you set your alarm?"

"I never set my alarm," Lightning said. "My wheel axle always wakes me up. It doesn't hurt today."

"What do you mean it doesn't hurt?" Doc asked skeptically. He looked at the stance Lightning was parked in and saw that most of Lightning's weight was resting upon his front right wheel axle.

"I'll be darned," he said softly. "I wonder what happened overnight."

Lightning glanced up the ramp o the trailer where Rayne was coming down groggily.

"I don't know," he said, smiling to himself.

Over the next four days, Lightning trained exceptionally well. Rayne did not.

She seemed to have lost the ability to execute her signature move, which had helped her win a majority of the races she raced in.

"Maybe it's the track," Lightning said hopefully, watching his daughter slip on the asphalt once again.

"It shouldn't be," Doc said. "I think she forgot how to do it. That happens sometimes."

"It has been a while," Lightning agreed, frowning.

Because Rayne and Storm had been alternating weeks on who won, Rayne had not been using her move. When Storm won, Rayne did not use the move, giving Storm the advantage in the last turn of the race. When Storm let Rayne win, he held back to where she did not have the need to do the move.

"I hope not," Lightning added uneasily. "She has never legitimately beaten Storm without it."

"I know," Doc said grimly. "Tomorrow's race isn't going to be pretty."

The next morning, Lightning woke up at six-thirty. He rolled out of his trailer and bought a newspaper. Lightning settled himself under the awning of his trailer, due to the fact that a steady rain had settled in.

"You've got to be kidding!"

Lightning looked over to where Rayne was parked at the top of the ramp. She was looking up at the gray clouds that were leaking upon the track with an expression of anger and nervousness.

"You'll be fine," Lightning said. "You've always driven well in the rain."

"I've never raced in these conditions," Rayne said edgily. "The track is going to be so slick, and I've already been having traction problems in the turns!"

"You'll be okay, Kiddo," Doc said, driving over to where Lightning and Rayne were parked.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?"Rayne asked, her voice an octave higher that its usual range. "Can I scratch?" she asked hopefully.

"Absolutely not," Lightning and Doc said in unison.

Over the next few hours, the rain did not increase, but it did not settle out either, and neither did Rayne. She paced nervously back and forth in front of Doc and Lightning, very deep in thought.

"She's too wound-up," Doc said in an undertone to Lightning. "She'll never do well with that mindset."

"I was thinking that too," Lightning said. "The problem is, I don't think what we say will affect her. She's been a little out of it since the incident Monday night."

This was true. For the remainder of Monday night and all of Tuesday, Rayne had been an emotional train wreck. For Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, she had been composed, but unusually quiet. She never spoke to anyone unless they spoke to her first, and she spent a lot of time to herself.

"Yeah," Doc agreed."What happened Monday was in the papers."

"I saw that," Lightning said unhappily. "Rayne handled herself well with the press though. She didn't tell on Storm. She said it was just a break up, nothing more, nothing less."

"That was good of her," Doc said. "He didn't deserve that."

"No," Lightning agreed. "It actually makes him look worse in a way. Rayne is definitely being the better car."

"That's true," Doc agreed.

At one o'clock, the loudspeaker called for all racecars to make their way to the track. The rain had not diminished, but the track was in fairly good condition.

"Good luck, Sweetie," Lightning said, hugging his daughter. "You're going to be great."

Rayne managed a weak half-smile before driving out onto the track.

"Can you hear me, Kiddo?" Doc asked through the intercom system. He paused for a moment and nodded. "Good. Just relax. This is just another race."

There was another pause and then Doc chuckled.

"What did she say?" Lightning asked.

"She said it was easier when she knew what place she was going to finish in before the race started," Doc replied.

The officials dropped the green flags and all the young racecars shot out onto the track. As usual, Storm was quick to take the lead. Rayne settled for second along the inside, tailing Storm.

"Good placement, Rookie," Doc said, studying Rayne's every move. "Keep it right there and you'll be set."

"They set up the same way for every race," Lightning said, studying the placements of the cars in the field.

"Storm is a front runner by nature," Doc said. "And heredity," he added. "He feels the most comfortable at the front of the pack. Rayne is a pace-stalker, just like you. She's an all-around good racer who can handle a fast or a slow pace. It's better to be a pace-stalker. They're much more flexible. When you're a front runner, you're basically putting a big target on your back."

"Yeah," Lightning said as the cars swept into the second turn of three hundred laps. "She has pretty good skills out there. She's a natural."

"She has her father to thanks for that," Doc said.

"I don't know about that," Lightning said humbly.

Two hundred laps later, Rayne took everyone by surprise and overtook Storm for the lead. She breezed by him easily and took the inside of the track for herself, making sure there was a healthy two car length distance between she and Storm.

"What are you doing, Kid?" Doc asked into the intercom system.

After a moment or two, he repeated the question.

"She's not answering?" Lightning asked fearfully.

"No," Doc replied. "I can't hear anything. I think our systems are offline."

"What are we going to do?" Lightning asked in a panicked tone.

"We trust her," Doc said simply.

With twenty-five laps left in the race, Doc still had not been able to repair the intercom. By then, Rayne had realized the predicament. She shot a knowing look to the track camera to signal to Lightning she knew she was on her own.

All of a sudden, Storm shot down the track at his fastest possibly pace and overtook Rayne. Rayne looked positively confused for a moment, not knowing what to do. Then, she made up her mind and shot after her rival.

"No!" Lightning said loudly. "She can't stay at that pace for twenty-five laps!"

"Relax, Kid," Doc said quietly. "She's got instincts. Let her use them."

Lightning nodded and watched the last part of the race develop.

Rayne caught up with Storm and the two were traveling at insanely high speeds, especially with twenty-four laps remaining.

Leaving the rest of the pack behind, the two teenagers sped faster and faster down the track, not slowing at all for the turns. Before long, they were lapping the cars lagging behind the pack.

Storm had a very slim lead. He was faster than Rayne, but Rayne used strategy to win, which was a stronger element than speed.

With five laps left, neither Rayne or Storm were tiring. They were a lap and a half ahead of the pack, and that distance was increasing.

As the end of the junior races usually were, Rayne and Storm were perfectly even, and their speed was increasing. They seemed to be taking their rage with one another out on the track.

As the two swept into the last lap, Storm increased his speed again. Much to everyone's surprise, so did Rayne's.

The two cars switched leads constantly in the last half of the last lap. Going into turn four, Storm revved his engine and floored it, inching ahead of Rayne.

"She's going to lose!" Lightning cried. "She can't use her move!"

In contrast to Lightning's statement, Rayne drove deep into the turn, revved her engine, and shot out. She burned up the home stretch and passed Storm within seconds of the finish.

"She did it!" Lightning said, bouncing up and down, ignoring the additional stress it put on his wheel axle. "Doc, she did it!"

"I have eyes, Kiddo," Doc said weakly, as though he had been the one out there racing.

Rayne drove up to her father and surrogate grandfather breathing heavily.

"Amazing race out there!" Lightning said, pulling his winded daughter into a hug.

"Thanks," Rayne said, puffing heavily. "i…wasn't…going to give…Storm…the satisfaction of…beating…me."

Lightning and Doc laughed.

"You haven't been able to do that move all week! How did you just do it?" Lightning asked, grinning widely.

"You guys…fell…for that?" Rayne asked, still puffing heavily. "I was…faking…to trick…Storm."

"Oh," Lightning said, feeling slightly stupid. "Well anyway, that was amazing, Rayne. Let's go out to celebrate!"

"I'd love to, Dad…really," Rayne said, catching her breath a little. She grinned a fatigued smile. "But right now I just want to sleep."

**A/N: Yay! Haha. There's a happier ending for you! I hope you really liked it!**

**As a fellow cars fandom author recently stated, I've been getting a lot of hits on my pages, but not **_**nearly**_** as many reviews as hits! As she also said, if you have flames, let them burn!**** (Although positive reinforcement and constructive criticism is preferred)! **** I want an inbox of reviews tomorrow!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own it.**

Three weeks and five days later, it was the Thursday before the Piston Cup. Lightning, Rayne, and Doc arrived at the Motor Speedway of the South around noon and unpacked all of their belongings.

"Are you nervous about Sunday?" Rayne asked, placing a pile of books on the table.

Lightning shrugged. "I'm pretty far from Chick in points," he said. "Are you nervous about Saturday?"

"Yeah," Rayne said. "I have to win the race to win the division. If I don't win the division I don't get to race in the Piston Cup next year."

"That's true," Lightning said.

"I can't believe I let Storm win those races!" Rayne said bitterly. "I was so stupid!"

"I'm sure Storm feels the same way," Lightning said.

"I know he does," Rayne said. She smiled. "He made it a point to tell me I was a waste of his time."

"Oh really?" Lightning asked, his eyebrows shooting up. "That was nice of him."

"Oh, I had my comeback," Rayne replied.

"What was it?" Lightning asked.

"I'd rather not say," Rayne said, blushing slightly.

"Oh," Lightning said knowingly. "Let's try to keep the cursing to a minimum. It's not very attractive for young cars."

"Okay," Rayne said, smiling slightly.

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The next day, Rayne did not have to go to school. The school gave the students the day off to prepare for their race the next day.

"Please, Dad!" Rayne begged, following her father around the camp. "I need to get out on the track one more time, and it works out really well this way!"

"No, Rayne," Lightning sighed. For the past forty-five minutes, Rayne had been begging him to let her train out the track with him that afternoon.

"Why?" Rayne persisted. "There's a 50/50 change I'm going to racing with the cars you train with next year! I need to get out there!"

"What do you think, Doc?" Lightning asked, looking over to Doc, who was immersed in the racing newspaper.

"She's your kid," Doc said. "I don't think anyone would have a problem. Everyone seems to like her fairly well.'

This was true. Everyone at the track (excluding the Hicks family) liked Rayne a lot. Lightning always heard good comments from the track employees and Rayne's teachers. Supposedly Rayne kept all the immature male cars in line during class, although she did express a little too much attitude to Storm, which Lightning did not care about.

"Okay," Lightning said. He shot his daughter a competitive look. "If you think you can catch up that is."

Rayne returned the look. "Right back at you."

Thirty minutes later, Lightning and Rayne were warming up around the track. The afternoon sun was hot, but not unbearable. The autumn breeze got rid of any unnecessary heat.

"Okay, Kids," Doc said into Lightning and Rayne's intercom systems. "This is going to be a fifteen lap sprint. Pull up to the starting line and wait for my signal."

Lightning and Rayne pulled up to the starting line and waited for Doc's sign.

"On your mark, get set, go!" Doc called.

Both Lightning and Rayne shot away from the starting line like bullets from guns. Lightning allowed Rayne to pass him and settled in her bump draft. He kept with the pace she set.

All around the track, cars started to gather. Track employees, officials, other racecars, and even some fans gathered around the edges of the track. They watched the speeding McQueens with interest.

Lightning and Rayne settled into a steady two hundred miles per hour, going deep into their corners and flying down the straights.

"Good going, you two," Doc approved. "Keep it like that for a few laps. Then we'll hit the fast stuff."

"Sounds good to me," Lightning replied.

Rayne and Lightning stayed the same distance apart and the same speed for ten laps. With five laps left, Lightning shifted to the outside and sped up to Rayne. She instantly realized Lightning was making his move. Rayne shifted to the outside of the track, blocking Lightning.

Lightning grinned; Chick always did the same thing. He shifted to the inside and floored his engine, using his signature move.

Much to his surprise, Rayne darted to the inside and shut him out.

"Excellent, Kiddo!" Doc said. "It's about time someone did that to him!"

"Hey!" Lightning said. "Whose side are you on?"

"Right now, the kid's," Doc said, chuckling. "She's giving you some competition!"

"You think so?" Lightning asked, grinning competitively. He revved his engine and floored it, catching Rayne by surprise and passing her.

Rayne laughed and sped up. She became even with Lightning and the two were hood to hood going into the last three laps.

Lightning increased his speed to two hundred and fifteen miles per hour, knowing it would be a stretch for Rayne to keep up.

Much to Lightning's surprise, Rayne easily caught up with him and passed him, challenging him for more speed.

Lightning increased his speed again, this time to two hundred and thirty miles per hour. He passed Rayne again, but only by a small margin. Eventually she caught up with her father again.

Lightning floored his engine as far as it would possibly go. He maxed out at two hundred and fifty miles an hour, and so did Rayne.

The two McQueens tore around the track in their last lap. They both drove deeply into their corners, not even bothering to slow down for them. Going around the turns, both cars were all but driving up the walls because of their furious speeds.

Going around turn four, Lightning and Rayne were perfectly even. They roared down the last straight and across the finish line.

Lightning braked, panting. He saw Rayne doing the same several feet ahead of him.

"Good race," he said, breathing heavily. "I don't think you're going to have a problem tomorrow."

Rayne grinned. "I hope not."

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"Rookie!"

Lightning turned around to see Doc catching up to him.

"Hey," Lightning said, waiting on his crew chief to catch up with him. "What's going on?"

"I took a snapshot of the finish line or the sprint," Doc said.

The race had been so close, nobody had declared a winner.

"And?" Lightning asked.

"Rayne won."

"What?" Lightning asked, looking at Doc in shock.

"She won. I thought she did earlier but I didn't want to say anything until I developed the picture. It was by a hair though. It wasn't evident at all."

Lightning grinned. "Does she know yet?"

"No," Doc said. "I don't want her to know either."

"Why?" Lightning asked.

"She will get too confident about tomorrow," Doc said. "We can't have her getting the idea she doesn't have to try her hardest tomorrow. We don't want her slacking off."

"Good point," Lightning agreed.

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The next morning was clear and cool. The wind gusts were strong, but not to where the race couldn't go on.

At twelve forty-five, Lightning, Rayne, and Doc filed to their pit area. Doc put on his headphones and Rayne turned on her intercom system.

"Have you stretched?" Lightning asked.

"Yeah," Rayne replied. "I did a couple minutes ago."

"Good," Lightning said, nodding. He felt tense; if Rayne did not win this race she would not be going to the Piston Cup circuit next year.

Everybody else seemed to be feeling the pressure too. The surrounding pit areas were usually noisy with activity, but today they were quiet for the most part.

"You'll be fine, Kiddo," Doc said, giving Rayne an encouraging smile.

"I hope so," Rayne said in a small voice. She was parked in a nervous stance, shifting her weight form side to side frequently.

Just then, the loudspeaker called for all junior racers.

"Good luck, Hun," Lightning said, "I'm sure you'll be great."

"Thanks, Dad," Rayne said, smiling at her father. She shot a smile to Doc and headed out onto the track.

All the young cars lined up on the track and the race began. Storm shot ahead, Rayne right on his tail. Ever since the race a few weeks ago, Rayne had been very cautious when it came to tracking Storm. She always stayed much closer to him than she used to. She had learned her lesson.

"Good work, Kid," Doc said encouragingly. "Keep it steady, you still have to race 200 laps."

Lightning's tank was twisting nervously. He would be proud of his daughter no matter if she won or finished last, but for her sake, he really, _really_ hoped she won.

Half way through the race, Rayne pulled in for a pit stop.

"Good work so far, Kid," Doc said as Guido rapidly changed her tires. "Are you taking another pit before the end?"

"Probably not," Rayne said before shooting away and regaining second place behind Storm.

"Does she need to pit again?" Lightning asked.

"Nah, she'll be fine," Doc said. "She's so lightweight she doesn't put much pressure on her tires."

"Yeah," Lightning said, watching his daughter tail her ex-boyfriend. "That's going to be useful when she hits the big leagues."

"Yeah," Doc said. "If we can get away with only one pit per race we'll be in good shape."

"Ninety laps later, Rayne started making her move. She inched up on Storm and shot past him when he did not see her.

"Good," Doc said into the intercom system. "Don't let him pass you again. If you stay ahead of him for the next ten laps it'll be easier for you to finish first."

Rayne replied to Doc, but Lightning couldn't hear the response.

"Good idea," Doc said.

"What did she say?" Lightning asked.

"She's going to make the speed burst Storm usually makes in her next lap," Doc explained. "Hopefully we'll catch him by surprise."

Lightning nodded, knowing it was a good idea. Rayne had turned out to be surprisingly insightful when it came to racing strategy.

Sure enough, in the next lap, Rayne surged ahead, taking all of her competitors by surprise. She whipped around the first two turns, leading the race by ten laps.

As soon as Storm realized what was happening, he shot off after Rayne.

"Storm is coming up on you, Rayne," Doc warned. You might want to speed it up a little."

Lightning did not hear Rayne's response but he saw it out on the track. Rayne let out another burst of speed, going about two hundred and twenty-five miles per hour.

"Good," Doc said.

Out on the track, Rayne lengthened her lead on Storm to fifteen lengths before Storm realized she had increased the distance between them.

With three laps left, Storm surged ahead. He was displaying an amazing amount of speed plus some.

"Tell her he's coming up again," Lightning said, his engine pumping hard and fast.

"She already knows," Doc said.

"How do you know?" Lightning asked quickly.

Doc gestured out to the track.

Sure enough, Rayne had already spotted Storm but she did not seem to increase her speed.

"What the hell?!" Lightning exclaimed.

"Relax, Kid," Doc said quietly. He was observing and absorbing every move Rayne made.

Rayne and Storm surged into the final lap hood to hood. They were perfectly synchronized with every move they made. Both cars were going two hundred and fifty miles per hour. Together, Rayne and Storm rocketed around the first two turns. They were still even shooting into turn three when Storm slipped and collided with Rayne.

Lightning watched in horror as Rayne slammed against the wall. He heard an all-too-familiar crack but felt no pain.

"She broke her wheel axle," Doc breathed.

[A/N: The chapter was _supposed _to end here…but I'm not that mean…

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Out on the track, Rayne shot down the track in hot pursuit of Storm, who had not faltered very much after the impact. It was then Lightning realized Rayne was only racing on three wheels. Her front right tire was suspended a couple of inches off the track, bearing no weight whatsoever.

Rayne was one length behind Storm going into the last turn of the race. She drove deeply into the corner and shot out like a bullet from a gun.

For a fleeting moment, Lightning thought Rayne was going to pass Storm, but she got ahead of him half a second too late. She finished second.

"C'mon, Rookie," Doc said, pulling off his podium quickly. "We need to get her to the clinic."

Lightning was one step ahead of Doc. He was racing out onto the track to where Rayne was parked on the side, still holding her wheel off the ground.

Lightning was with his daughter within seconds.

"Dad!" Rayne exclaimed, tears flowing down her face. "It hurts so bad!"

"I know, Hun," Lightning said comfortingly as Doc drove up. "You'll be fine."

"I'm sorry I lost," Rayne said in between sobs.

"Are you kidding?" Lightning asked and he and Doc supported her until the paramedics arrived. "You were amazing out there! I've never been more proud of you!"

"But I didn't qualify for the Piston Cup circuit next year," Rayne sobbed. She whimpered as her wheel axle gave a particularly nasty sear.

"That doesn't matter," Lightning said as the paramedics arrived. "Let's just focus on getting you better for now."

The paramedics quickly splinted Rayne's axle and towed her to the clinic. One paramedic stayed behind. Lightning started after the tow truck, but the paramedic stopped him.

"Why?" Lightning asked quickly. "I need to be with her."

"We're taking her to get x-rays right now," the paramedic explained. "You need to go to the waiting room."

"I'm her doctor," Doc interjected quickly. "I have been since she was born."

"Follow me," the paramedic said, pulling away. "The waiting room is over there," he said, gesturing to a building ten meters away.

Lightning sighed and nodded. He watched the retreating figures of his daughter and Doc until they disappeared into the confines of the clinic. Lightning turned around and drove to the waiting area, pressing the number two speed dial on his phone.

Sally picked up on the second ring.

"How is she?" Sally asked in an urgent tone. "I was waiting on you to call."

"They just took her back for x-rays," Lightning said heavily. "I'm sure it's broken. I recognized all the symptoms."

"It looked broken on the television screen," Sally said.

"I knew we shouldn't have let her race," Lightning said in a distressed tone. "This was bound to happen at some point."

"There was no way to know this would happen," Sally said. "Storm slipped. He didn't mean to run into her."

Lightning sighed, knowing Sally was right. "What is she's permanently crippled?" he asked fearfully.

"Don't speculate," Sally said comfortingly. "I'm getting the first flight available. I should be down there by tonight."

"Okay," Lightning said, pacing back and forth. His wheel axle was throbbing horribly and the pacing seemed to be the only way to keep his mind off of it.

"There's a flight leaving in two hours," Sally said. "I need to pack. I'll call you from the airport when I get there."

"Okay," Lightning said.

"Relax," Sally said. "If you're stressed you'll make her more stressed than she already is."

"Okay," Lightning said, taking a deep breath. "I'll see you when you get here."

"I love you," Sally said.

"I love you too," Lightning replied. "Bye."

He hung up his phone and continued pacing back and forth across the waiting room, attempting to relieve his stress and pain. Both were unbearable.

Twenty very long minutes later, Doc drove into the waiting room.

"Hey, Kid," Doc said.

"How is she?" Lightning asked quickly, a frantic look in his eyes.

"She'll be fine," Doc said. "It's a greenstick fracture. Because she's so young the axle didn't break completely. It basically splintered."

Lightning nodded and continued pacing. "What do we do now?"

"Let her heal for a couple months and get her back into shape. Just like we did with you," Doc replied.

Lightning sighed. "I don't want her racing anymore," he said miserably.

"If you try to take me off the track, I swear I'll find a way to get back on it anyway."

Lightning turned around and saw Rayne driving up. She was bearing weight on all four tires, but there was a brace latched around her wheel that Lightning knew stretched along her entire underside along the injured axle. Rayne had a tranquil expression on her face, but just like Lightning, her eyes showed her true emotion. They showed traces of fear and pain, but overall, Rayne looked fairly composed for the ordeal she had just gone through.

"I figured as much," Lightning said in a flat tone. "How do you feel?"

"I hurt," Rayne shrugged sadly. "I just wish I could have won. Now I'm stuck in the junior league for at least one more season. I'm going to kill Storm!"

"It happens," Lightning said, opening the door for Rayne and Doc. "You'll have another chance next year."

"Yeah, while Storm is racing in the Piston Cup," Rayne said miserably. She rolled across the smooth pavement, favoring her axle uncomfortably. "You shouldn't have announced your retirement so early."

"I would probably be retiring anyway," Lightning said. "I'm getting too old for all of this."

"Chick is older than you are," Rayne pointed out. "And the King was much older than you are when he retired."

"Neither of them had a wreck like I did," Lightning said. "I wouldn't have a problem with staying in the league if I hadn't been hurt."

Rayne did not respond. Lightning glanced over to her and saw tears gathering in Rayne's eyes.

"Is your axle hurting badly?" Doc asked, also noticing the tears.

"Not nearly as much as the fact I'm not racing in the Piston Cup circuit next year," Rayne sighed, a tear rolling down her hood and splashing against the asphalt.

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Later than evening, after Lightning picked Sally up from the airport, Lightning, Sally, and Doc were in the McQueen camp. Rayne was in the trailer, making the excuse of watching a movie, but in reality, she was still crying.

"There's really nothing we can do," Doc said grimly. "Storm did slip. I reviewed the tape several times. Although I hate to admit it, it was completely accidental."

Lightning nodded, swallowing. "Storm had been slipping in that turn all week," he replied.

The three fell silent. All three were thinking over Rayne's unfortunate loss and injury.

"You have a big day tomorrow," Sally said, glancing up to Lightning. "Why don't you get some sleep?"

"What's tomorrow?" Lightning asked, gazing absent-mindedly up at the stars above him.

Both Doc and Sally shot him incredulous looks.

"What?" Lightning asked, breaking his gaze with the heavens to look at Sally and Doc.

"The Dinoco 400 is tomorrow," Sally said slowly. "Your last race? Ring any bells?"

"Oh yeah," Lightning said. Over the events of the day, he had forgotten about his race the next day, even though Rayne mentioned it several times earlier. "I'm going to give her a little more time," he said, glancing at his trailer. "I'll go to bed in an hour or so."

Doc and Sally nodded again. For the second time, all three cars fell silent.

"Lightning!"

Lightning turned around to see Darrell Cartrip driving up.

"Hey, Darrell," Lightning said, driving up to meet the racing announcer. "How are you?"

"Pretty good," Darrell said. "What about you?"

Lightning shrugged. "We're okay," he said.

"Disappointed about the loss?" Darrell asked.

"Yeah, a little," Lightning admitted. "She really wanted to get into the Piston Cup circuit next year."

"That's what I'm here to talk about. The Piston Cup administrators sent me over to talk to you," Darrell said. "If she wants it, Rayne has a spot in the Piston Cup circuit next season."

"What?" Lightning asked quickly. "Why?"

"Well, we had more cars retire this year than we expected," Darrell said. "You and Chick were the only two expected retirements at the end of the season, but now Dale Junior is too, along with a couple other cars, so if Rayne wants a spot, she has it."

"She'll be thrilled," Lightning grinned. "Thanks so much, Darrell."

"Don't thank me," Darrell said, returning the smile. "It was the administration. I was just in the neighborhood and sent as a messenger."

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"Rayne, why don't you come out here?" Lightning called from outside the trailer. He had already told both Doc and Sally the good news, and they were waiting anxiously to tell Rayne.

"I don't want to," said Rayne from inside the trailer. Her voice had a nasal tone to it from the tears she had shed.

"Rayne," Lightning said in a warning tone. "Now."

Rayne sighed and lowered the ram. She hobbled down, a grimace pasted on her face.

"What do you need?" she asked in a flat tone.

"Why are you locking yourself away in the trailer?" Doc asked, suppressing his grin.

"Because I got hurt," Rayne said slowly, looking confused.

"Is that the only reason?" Lightning asked, also concealing his grin.

"Are you trying to rub it in?" Rayne asked, tearing up again.

"If you're going to tell her, just do it you two," Sally said.

"Tell me what?" Rayne asked suspiciously.

"Tell you that you have a spot in the Piston Cup next season," Lightning said, grinning wider than he had in a long time.

"I _what_?" Rayne asked incredulously.

"You're racing in the big leagues next season," Lightning said.

"But I lost," Rayne said in a dazed tone. She had a shocked expression on her face.

"They had more retirements than expected this year," Lightning said. "It freed up a spot for you."

Rayne began to cry.

"What is it?!" Lightning asked. "I thought you would be happy!"

"I am," Rayne said, sobbing into her mother's side. "I'm crying because I'm happy!"

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At one o'clock the next day, Lightning started in the final race of his career.

"Keep it steady, Rookie," Doc said as Lightning was angered by Chick, who cut him off as they were turning into the two hundred and fiftieth lap of the Dinoco 400.

"Yeah, Dad. If I'm not allowed to fire up at Storm, you're not allowed to fire up at Chick," Rayne said into the headset. She was being a co-crew chief with Doc.

"I'll try," Lightning said frowning. Chick was already racing rough; Lightning had accumulated a series of scratches and dents throughout the course of the race.

"Just stay clear of him until you make your move," Doc said. "Don't worry about him for now. It's too early."

"Okay," Lightning sighed.

The laps went by quickly. For Lightning, it seemed as though his career was coming closer to being over with every lap he completed.

With twenty laps left, Lightning started to make his move on Chick. For several laps, he made his advancement on Chick subtle, but when he got within six meters of Chick, he floored his engine, passing Chick before he realized Lightning was right behind him to begin with.

"Good job, Kiddo," Doc said. "That must be a career first!"

"Thanks," Lightning said. "It's about time." He grinned and floored his engine, continuing to pull ahead and into the last ten laps of his final race.

"Chick's starting to inch up a little, Dad," Rayne said.

"Thanks, Hun," Lightning said. He shot around turn two and winced at the sharp pain that flared up in his axle, but to his luck, the pain had gone as quickly as it had come.

Sure enough, Chick appeared in Lightning's peripheral vision a few moments later. Lightning floored his engine and pulled away from his rival once again.

With one lap left, Lightning was ten lengths ahead of Chick. He revved his engine one last time and roared around the track. Lightning felt a bittersweet sense of accomplishment and sorrow as he crossed the finish line. A single tear streaked down his hood. He was done.

**A/N: Okay, sounds like a good stopping point to me. **

**I am SOOOOOOOO sorry for the loooooooong delay in updating. I have lived in an excerpt of ****A Series of Unfortunate Events**** for the past three weeks and it's been really hard to get any work done. I did give you readers a longer chapter if that means anything…I hope it does. We will pick up from here next time!! About Rayne…I had to make it to where she could get into the P.C. somehow!! There wouldn't be a second half of this fiction without it!!! Lol. **

**Anyway, please review, it will push me to make time to update…even though school is throttling me, I'll try my hardest to make it happen!!**

**Oh, and please excuse the abundance of grammatical errors (I'm sure there are plenty), but I haven't gotten more than 6 hours of sleep in a night for 3 weeks, and I'm off to bed.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Okay, here's chapter eight! This is a short transitional chapter, I hope you guys don't mind, but it's not great.**** It jumps around through time a lot, but i****t is necessary though, I promise a better chapter next time! We're picking up right after Lightning crosses the finish line, just like I said we would.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

Lightning slowed and drove at a more controlled speed into victory lane. He drove up onto the stage and accepted his final trophy. Lightning fought past the hollow feeling that was settling over him and drove up to the microphone. He looked out to all his fans and took a breath, beginning the speech he promised to the media a week before.

"Well," he said, smiling at his thousands of fans in the audience in the stands and watching television sets around the world, "every great thing has to come to a close, and for me, the past seventeen years have been a great thing. The years had their highs and their lows, but overall they were exactly what I dreamed of as a rookie, plus some. I never thought I could have done this, and it probably would have never happened without my crew chief, Doc Hudson, my pit crew from my home in Radiator Springs, or my wife Sally. They always offered support for me when I needed it. I would also like to thank all of my supportive fans out there. You guys have no idea how amazing you've been for me all these years. I'm sad to be leaving the circuit, but every cloud has its silver lining, and this silver lining is my daughter, Rayne. She was offered a spot in the circuit next year, and she took it very, _very_ eagerly." Lightning grinned as the crowd laughed. "So yeah, keep an eye out for Rayne next season. Thank you everyone on the Piston Cup board for a great seventeen years, I'll be around."

Lightning left the podium to a roaring crowd. He met Doc, Sally, and Rayne at the bottom of the ramp. All three cars had tears glistening in their windshields.

"What?" Lightning asked with a smirk. "Did that move you guys?"

"Of course not," Doc said gruffly. "A rock hit me in the windshield on the way over here."

"My axle hurts," Rayne said lamely.

"Okay," Lightning said, grinning. "What about you, Sally, flat tire?"

"No," Sally said, her voice shaking slightly. "I'm just proud of you."

"At least someone is in touch with their emotions," Lightning said, kissing his wife briefly. Both Rayne and Doc looked away pointedly.

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Two months later, Rayne started her training for the Piston Cup. Her axle had healed very well. She was not in any pain whatsoever, and regained full use of it.

"C'mon, Dad!" Rayne called into the master bedroom of their house as she sped out of the front door at six a.m.

Lightning groaned and looked at the clock.

"You're the one who wanted her to race," Lightning said to Sally groggily. "You should be the one getting up."

"You're the racecar," Sally said, equally as tired.

"Retired racecar," Lightning corrected. "I emphasize the _retired_ part."

From outside, Rayne honked her horn impatiently.

"You'd better go before she wakes up the whole town," Sally said.

Lightning sighed and rolled out of bed.

"Have fun," Sally said, falling back asleep.

"Oh I will," Lightning said. He rolled out of the bedroom door, down the hall, through the foyer, and out the front door where Rayne was waiting on him.

"That took enough time," Rayne said, grinning up to her father.

"Yeah, yeah," Lightning said. "Let's get to the track."

"Is Doc going to be there waiting on us?" Rayne asked.

"He should be," Lightning replied, driving alongside Rayne.

Sure enough, Doc was already waiting on the McQueens when they arrived at the practice track.

"Morning," Lightning said.

Doc grunted his usual hello and turned to Rayne. "How is the axle feeling?" he asked.

"Really good," Rayne replied, flexing the axle. "Its felt fine for three weeks," she added, shooting Doc a sideways glance. Over the last three weeks, she had been very persistent in begging Doc to start her training. Rayne turned sixteen two weeks before and because she was eligible age-wise for the Piston Cup circuit, she felt as though she needed to start her training immediately.

"She had your mentality," Doc grumbled. "Why couldn't she act like Sally?"

Lightning grinned. "We established that fact a while back," he said.

Doc did not reply. He seemed to be thinking about other things. After he finished thinking, Doc turned to Rayne. "We're going to take it easy today," he told Rayne. When Rayne started to protest, he cut her off. "We aren't going to have you like your father was. He re-injured himself too many times because he was impatient. We need to keep you healthy. You haven't even started your career yet."

Rayne contemplated Doc's argument for a minute. "Okay," she said. "Fair enough, but don't go too easy on me."

Doc grinned. "You never need to worry about that. Go ahead and take a couple warm-up laps and then we'll talk about the rest of the workout."

Rayne nodded. She drove out onto the track and sped up to seventy.

"What is she going to do today?" Lightning asked.

"Just basic conditioning," Doc replied. "I'll probably just have her go around the track twenty times at one hundred and ninety."

Lightning nodded. "Just stuff to ease her back into work?" he asked.

"Basically," Doc said, nodding. "She's a good athlete. She'll be back in shape in no time at all."

Sure enough, over the next few weeks, Rayne regained the stamina she had lost. She got her strength back and was ready to race.

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"Your first race is in a month," Doc said as he, Lightning, and Rayne gathered for a meeting at Wheel Well.

"What race is it?" Rayne asked.

"The Dakota 500," Doc replied. "It's in North Dakota, and it's going to be cold and windy, so we'll head up there two weeks early so you can get used to the climate."

"Sounds good," Rayne said. "Will I still go to the same school?"

"Yeah," Doc said, nodding. "You and Storm will train in the morning before school, and then go to classes like usual. When the other cars have training time, you two will have free time."

"Sounds good," Rayne said. "Except for the whole Storm thing," she added.

"There's nothing we can do about that," Doc said, smiling slightly. "But keep in mind you have to have at least a 3.0 grade point average to stay on the track. I don't know where yours is right now, but I just wanted you to be aware of that."

"Doc, I have a 4.0," Rayne said, grinning. "That's as high as it can go. I'm not worried about it personally."

Doc shot a surprised look to Lightning.

"She gets her brains from her mother," Lightning said, grinning sheepishly.

Doc raised his eyebrows and nodded.

"Okay, so school isn't presenting a problem," Doc said. "They switched around the order of the races this year too, so after the Dakota 500, we're heading to the Delaware 300."

"It'll be cold there too," Rayne complained.

"Get used to it, Kiddo," Doc said. "You're going to be in for a lot of bad weather over your career. You can't get picky about it."

"I figured as much," Rayne said flatly.

"You need to be versatile when it comes to your surroundings," Lightning said. "That's one of the things that makes a good racecar."

Rayne nodded seriously. "I can do that," she said.

"We'll see," Doc said. "It's something that comes naturally, not something you can make happen."

"Do you think I can be like that?" Rayne asked.

"I think so," Lightning said. "What do you think, Doc?"

Doc had zoned out. He was staring out the window and off into the vast space of the desert.

"Doc?" Lightning asked, giving his former crew chief a concerned look.

"What?" Doc asked distractedly. "Oh yeah, I don't think that will be a problem."

"Okay," Lightning said. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Doc said easily. "I just forgot Sheriff had an appointment this afternoon."

"Do you need to get back to town?" Lightning asked.

"Yeah," Doc said, already driving towards the door. "I'll see you two later."

"Bye," Lightning and Rayne said.

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A month later, it was two days before the Dakota 500. Rayne's nerves were high, and she seemed to be pacing constantly. She had been training well; the cold weather and snow did not seem to be affecting her whatsoever.

"Stop pacing," Lightning said. "You're making me nervous."

"That may be the single-most hypocritical statement I have ever heard you say," Doc said, glancing up from the newspaper he was reading.

Lightning grinned in agreement.

"I can't stop pacing," Rayne said edgily. "I'm starting in the first race of my career in two days and I really don't feel ready!"

"You've been here two weeks," Lightning said. "And you've been training really well. You'll be fine."

"I hope so," Rayne said, continuing to pace.

"Why don't you watch some television in your trailer?" Lightning suggested.

Rayne glanced up to her brand new trailer. It was just like her father's, but black with electric blue writing.

"Maybe I will," she mumbled.

With that, Rayne drove up the ramp to her trailer and shut the door.

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The next two days flew by. Before Lightning knew it, Rayne was getting on the track for her first race in the Piston Cup circuit.

"She looks so much smaller than everyone else," Lightning said nervously.

That was true. Every other car was much larger than Rayne. Even Storm seemed to tower over her now. It was as though he had grown a lot over the off season.

Out on the track, the green flag was waved and the racecars shot into the opening race of the 2008 Piston Cup season. Rayne, who had started from the middle of the pack, started swerving around cars to tail Storm, who was also pushing forward for a front-running position. She managed to break free from the pack and settled twenty feet behind Storm, who was leading the race alongside Hollister.

"Great work, Kiddo," Doc said encouragingly. "Keep doing that and you'll get a good race." He paused for a moment while Rayne made a response. He chuckled. "I know it's only the first lap," he said.

Two hundred and fifty laps into the race, Rayne made a pit stop.

"Great work so far, Honey," Lightning said encouragingly.

"Thanks, Dad," Rayne said, smiling up to her father. She shot out of pit lane and regained her position in third behind Storm and Hollister.

"She's doing well," Doc said.

"Yeah," Lightning agreed, smiling proudly.

"We're going to get you to start being a crew chief soon," Doc said.

"No way, Doc," Lightning said immediately. "I don't want to. That's too much responsibility for me."

"You need to crew chief for her," Doc said.

"No," Lightning said, shaking his hood. "That's not a good idea. I'd mess her up some way or another."

Doc did not respond. He gave Lightning an exasperated look and continued watching the race.

Two hundred and thirty laps later, Rayne made her move with Doc's signal. She shot ahead and started to inch up on Storm and Hollister.

"How are you holding up, Kiddo?" Doc asked as Rayne got within five feet of Storm's bumper. He paused while Rayne responded. "Just hang in there. It's almost over."

"Is she okay?" Lightning asked.

"She's getting tired," Doc replied.

Out on the track, Rayne attempted to pass Storm, but failed when he shut her out. Storm shot ahead, resulting in Rayne losing a substantial amount of ground.

Both Hollister and Storm were pulling away when Rayne let out a burst of speed. She raced back up to their bumpers and attempted to pass Storm again, once again getting shut out.

"Just relax, Rayne," Doc said evenly. "You have nine laps left. Next time, try passing Hollister. He may be a little easier than Storm."

The next time Rayne attempted passing, Hollister swerved and shut Rayne out again.

"She's getting frustrated," Lightning said.

"I know," Doc said.

Rayne was shut out two more times before she finished the race in third place behind Hollister, who placed first, and Storm, who placed second.

"That was a good race," Lightning said to his daughter once she was off the track.

"Dad, I couldn't pass them for anything!" Rayne said, winded. "That's going to present problems in the future!"

"You'll get used to it," Doc said. "We need to teach you your father's old move. We can work on that in training this coming week."

Rayne nodded but did not say anything.

**A/N: Once again, sorry for the shortness. As I said earlier, it was a transitional chapter from part one to part two of the story. I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. **

**COMING UP NEXT: Rayne continues the start of her Piston Cup career, and Lightning has some internal battles with his retirement. **

**Please review! They make my day when I get them, and I need some cheering up!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: First of all I am so so so so so so so so so SOOOO sorry for the INCREDIBLY long wait for this one. I honestly don't have that great of an excuse for the long update time either..I've had some difficulty with school and such, but really I haven't had that much inspiration to write. The past few months have been difficult for me emotionally, but that's still not much of an excuse. But anyway, here's chapter nine. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Cars. Never have, never will. Or ESPN for that matter.**

Rayne hardly spoke at all for the rest of the day after her loss. She was incredibly flustered with her failure to pass Storm and Hollister and was trying to think up ways to get around the cars successfully. 

"Relax, Kiddo," Doc said as Rayne paced in front of him. "We'll get them, don't worry. You had a big case of the nerves today. You'll settle out soon. It just takes some time."

"You did very well, Hun," Lightning said. "Especially for a first race. A lot of cars never place third in their entire careers."

"I know," Rayne said unhappily. "I don't care that Hollister beat me, just Storm."

"We know," Doc said. "Just keep a cool head about it. This won't be a hard problem to fix. You're quick and light, so it should come easily to you."

"Good. I hope so," Rayne said, a worried expression on her face.

Later that afternoon, the McQueen racing crew loaded up their stuff into their trailers and headed to Delaware. The truck ride would be roughly fourteen hours, so they would arrive at the track around six a.m. 

After six hours, the trucks had to stop for gas. Lightning, Doc, and Rayne unloaded from their trailers and took a quick stretch break.

Lightning winced at the familiar strain the stretching put on his axle. He had not been in pain for six weeks, but now the axle was throbbing persistently. The pain had come back with a vengeance. 

"You okay, Dad?" Rayne asked, studying her father's stance and facial expression.

"Yeah, I'm just a little stiff," Lightning said. "I'm getting too old for these road trips."

"You're thirty-seven," Rayne said. "That doesn't count as old."

Lightning laughed. "Maybe not," he said. "But that doesn't stop me from getting stiff."

"What do you mean by stiff?" Rayne inquired. "Does it throb or is it just sore?"



"A little bit of everything," Lightning said, smiling slightly. "It just hurts to move or put weight on."

Rayne nodded. She looked beyond where Lightning was parked and into the dark horizon.

"I miss home," she said softly.

"So do I," Lightning said, looking into the deep blue horizon. "But that makes going home so much better."

"Yeah," Rayne agreed. She looked up to her father, a pondering expression on her face. "It must be hard being away from Mom so much."

"It is," Lightning admitted. "But you have to do what you have to do. I'm just lucky she understands."

"Yeah," Rayne agreed, looking back into the dark abyss.

The McQueen crew arrived in Delaware right on time the next morning. Lightning drove out of the trailer and quickly turned his heat on. It was freezing outside his toasty trailer.

"Why couldn't this week be in Florida?" he mumbled bitterly. Even though he raced pretty well in all conditions, it did not stop Lightning from hating cold weather.

Lightning frowned as his wheel axle started throbbing again. He was getting sick of the persistent pain the axle was presenting again. It wasn't normal; he had not been exercising strenuously. He normally took a twenty mile drive in the morning to stay healthy. That was all.

"Could it be any colder?!"

Lightning jumped slightly, wincing as his axle balked at the sudden movement. He hadn't heard Rayne leave her trailer.

"Sorry," Rayne said, chuckling slightly. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"No problem," Lightning said.

"Do you know where Doc is?" Rayne asked. "I need to start my session before anyone else gets here."

"I think he's sleeping," Lightning said. "I haven't talked to him since the stop for gas last night."

"Me neither," Rayne said. "He's been acting a little off lately."

"He's getting older," Lightning shrugged. "It happens. Why don't you get to the track and just get a feel for it so you can get to work tomorrow?"



"Good idea," Rayne said. She headed off to the track, leaving Lightning to read the newspaper.

It was half an hour before Doc woke up and came out.

"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty," Lightning joked as Doc rolled down the ramp from his trailer.

Doc grumbled his good morning, proceeded to take the newspaper Lightning was reading, and took it for himself to read.

"Sure, you can borrow my newspaper," Lightning said sarcastically. "I don't mind."

Doc did not reply. He continued reading the newspaper. After about two minutes, he looked up and glanced around the camp. "Where's the kid?" he asked.

"She went out to the track to get used to it before tomorrow," Lightning replied. "She's really eager to get training again," he added.

"I know," Doc said. "We're going to teach her your old move you used on Chick."

"Okay," Lightning said. "She should learn that pretty quickly."

"Yup," Doc replied. "We'll use you as the blocker and go from there."

"Okay," Lightning agreed. "That should be fun then."

Doc shrugged. "You've always sucked at blocking, so it may give her false hope."

"Ouch," Lightning said. "I wasn't great at it, but I wouldn't go as far as saying I sucked at it. I had my fair share of decent blocks over the years."

Doc said something under his breath to where Lightning could not hear it.

"Why are you in such a bad mood?" Lightning asked, looking at Doc, who had resumed reading the paper.

"I'm not," Doc replied shortly.

"Okay," Lightning said, surrendering. He left the camp and drove to the track to watch Rayne.

Once he arrived at the track, he spotted Rayne ripping around the track. She drove deeply into her corners and shot out of them as usual. She completed ten more laps and then slowed down. 

"You looked good out there," Lightning said.

"Thanks," Rayne said. "I get really good traction on his track."

"They just made it a sprint track, so they had to put down a sprinting surface," Lightning said. "This race used to be four hundred laps, but they shortened it to one hundred and ninety laps, so they needed a better surface."



"Well I'm glad they redid it," Rayne said. "I should be able to pass better on this surface."

"Yeah," Lightning agreed. "Doc said we would start working on that tomorrow."

"Where is Doc?" Rayne asked, looking around with a furrowed brow. "He never misses a session, even if it is an easy one like today."

"He's back at the trailer," Lightning replied in a flat tone. "He's in an awful mood. I don't suggest talking to him."

"Okay," Rayne said, looking slightly confused.































































The next morning, Lightning was woken up by Rayne pounding on the side of his trailer.

"Get up!" she called. "You have training this morning too, remember?"

Lightning groaned. He had forgotten about having to train with Rayne. 

"Coming!" he said groggily. He pushed the pedal on the floor of his trailer and lowered the ramp. He drove down the ramp and stretched stiffly. His axle was throbbing uncomfortably, as it usually did in the morning when he woke up.

"Are you ready to get schooled?" he asked, grinning competitively to his daughter.

"Yeah right," Rayne said. "Like you could."

"Ego," Lightning warned playfully. "A Piston Cup racecar with an ego is asking for trouble."

Doc, who had been parked a couple of feet away muttered something about a hypocrite under his breath.

"What was that, Doc?" Lightning asked, grinning good-naturedly. 

Much to Lightning's surprise, Doc returned the grin. "Your dad is a hypocrite, Kiddo," he said to Rayne.

"Or I just learned from my mistakes," Lightning said. "I could be passing on valuable information here."

"I'll give you that much, Doc agreed. "Your dad is right though, Kiddo. Keep the ego to a minimum if possible."

"I will," Rayne said. "But we probably need to get started. My first class starts in an hour."

"Okay, let's go then," Doc said.



Lightning followed behind Doc sand Rayne. He was very confused at Doc's change of mood. Yesterday Doc had been short-tempered and antisocial, but today he was happy and talkative. Lightning knew Doc could be moody, but this was very uncommon.

Lightning, Doc, and Rayne arrived at the track a minute later, and Doc sent both Lightning and Rayne onto the track to warm-up. The two cars stayed side-by-side, matching each other's paces for the most part. 

"Good," Doc's voice said through the intercom system Lightning had not used in months. Step it up to two hundred so we can get Rayne to school on time."

"Okay," both Lightning and Rayne said. They increased their speed to two hundred miles per hour. The father and daughter remained next to one another for two more warm-up laps. They then pulled up next to Doc to receive their instructions. 

"Okay," Doc said. "Rookie, go ahead out onto the track and start out at about hundred and fifty miles an hour."

Lightning nodded to his former crew chief and took off around the track. He enjoyed the cold wind running up his windshield and over his roof. He missed racing more than he could express. Lightning imagined the stands full again, the cheering echoing loudly around him. He sped up slightly, increasing the wind against his windshield. Even the slight ache in his wheel axle made him feel like he was racing again. 

"Earth to Rookie!"

Lightning snapped back to attention. He was going well over two hundred miles per hour. He slowed immediately. 

"Sorry, Doc," he said. "I zoned out for a minute."

"I noticed," Doc said. "I set the kid out so remember what you're supposed to be doing out there."

"Got it," Lightning said. He was back at one hundred and fifty miles per hour by then and was on the lookout for a small black car with electric blue flames. 

Sure enough, twenty seconds later, Rayne edged into Lightning's peripheral vision. Lightning shifted in front of her. 

"Okay, Rayne, you need to settle your weight on your back tires," Doc instructed into the intercom system. Because the intercoms were interlinked, Lightning could hear everything Doc was saying to Rayne and Rayne could hear everything Doc said to Lightning.



"Then choose which direction you're going to pass him on," Doc continued. "Once you decide whether you're going right or left, shift your weight onto that tire. Don't stay that way for too long or you'll cramp, but balance yourself, and then shoot off the wheel and pass, okay?"

"Got it," Rayne replied. 

"Go ahead and give it a try whenever you're ready," Doc said.

"Okay," Rayne said. 

Lightning kept driving, a feeling of anxiousness in his tank. He hated blocking more than anything else, and the fact that he knew a car was about to pass him was unnerving, even if it was his daughter. 

All of a sudden, he heard Rayne rev her engine and shoot off to the right. Lightning reacted quickly, speeding up and shifting to the right, shutting Rayne out immediately.

Suddenly, Rayne shifted her weight quickly and shot around Lightning to the left.

Doc started laughing immediately. "Great job, Kiddo!" he exclaimed. "You learned the rest of the move on your own!"

Lightning was also grinning, but unlike Doc and Rayne's grins, his was forced. If he had been in racing condition, he would have been able to block Rayne. It was then Lightning realized exactly how much he missed racing. He was definitely happy for Rayne; it was rare for a car to enter the league at sixteen, and she was the first female racer in history, but whenever she trained or raced, it made Lightning feel empty, as if his only purpose was to be a cheerleader for his daughter. 

"Dad?"

Lightning snapped out of his trance and found himself driving aimlessly around the track, Rayne next to him and looking confused. 

"Sorry," Lightning said, smiling over to his daughter. "I got kind of sidetracked."

"It's fine," Rayne said, returning the smile. "Doc says we're done. He was happy with that."

"I'll bet," Lightning said, his face forming back into the pseudo-grin. "That was really good."

"Thanks," Rayne said, smiling proudly. I need to get to school though. I'll see you later."

"Bye, Hon," Lightning said as his daughter sped away. 

Lightning drove back to where Doc was waiting on him.

"What's up?" Doc asked once Lightning reached him.

"Nothing," Lightning said. "Why do you ask?"



"You just look kind of lost," Doc said, studying Lightning through his wise blue eyes. 

Lightning shrugged, hoping it looked casual. "I'm fine," he lied.

"Okay," Doc said skeptically. 

"Really," Lightning said, pasting the awful grin on his face one last time. "Don't worry about me."

Doc gave Lightning another skeptical look but did not say anything. He drove away back towards the trailers. 

Lightning followed Doc back to the trailer, desperately fighting away his sense of uselessness. He glanced up to the billboard on the grandstand of the track and saw a huge advertisement for Rayne. Lightning ripped his eyes away from the advertisement , it only worsening his mood. He missed racing more than he could explain. At first, it felt as though he was on a hiatus, but would be returning, but now, it hit him that his career was over. Over as in never starting in a single race ever again. He was retired in his late thirties and had nothing to do for the rest of his life. 

Lightning arrived back at his trailer and drove into it. He turned on the television and onto ESPN. Low and behold, he saw Rayne on the screen. Lightning snorted at the irony, but deep down it was wrenching. No matter where he turned, Rayne's face was plastered. Whenever he looked at his daughter, it reminded him of what he loved to do. Lightning knew he was being selfish; he had been through seventeen seasons, but he could not help but feel as though a good friend had died. Everything he worked for his entire life: being accepted into the league, helping the King finish his last race, getting injured, his long recover, getting his parents to accept his career choice, and winning so many Piston Cups was over. There was nothing else to look forward to.

"Rookie?"

Lightning jumped out of his deep thoughts again.

"Yeah?" he called out to Doc.

"Come out here for a minute," Doc said. 

Lightning sighed, knowing what was coming. He lowered the ramp and backed out. 

"What's up?" he asked lightly. 

"Nothing," Doc said, surveying Lightning again. "You miss the track."

"No I don't," Lightning said defensively. 

"You do," Doc said. "Don't tell me you don't. It's written all over your face."

"Well I do a little," Lightning admitted. "But that doesn't matter. I retired."



"I know," Doc said. "But you need to cope."

"Cope?" Lightning scoffed. "I'm fine, Doc. Don't worry about it. It's Rayne's turn now. My time is over. I just need to accept that."

With that, Lightning went back into his trailer, leaving Doc staring after him.

Lightning glared at the trophies he won over the years. He almost hated them for causing the sorrow he was experiencing.

Suddenly, his trailer phone started ringing. Lightning jumped, wincing at the pain in his axle. The caller I.D. on the phone said "home" on it.

"Hello?" Lightning asked, pressing the pedal to answer the phone. 

"Hey," Sally said.

"Hey," Lightning replied. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Sally said, "Doc said you were having a bit of a hard time."

"He did?" Lightning asked, a feeling of resentment towards Doc flaring in him. 

"Don't be angry with him," Sally said warningly. "I knew you were going to go through this anyway."

"You did?" Lightning asked, slightly surprised. 

"Of course I did, Honey," Sally said, a loving tone in her voice. "Racing has been your whole life for nearly twenty years. You devoted your life to it for half of your life. It would be worrisome to me if you didn't miss it."

"I just feel selfish," Lightning said in a low tone. "It's Rayne's turn to experience what I got to experience, but I feel like I can't enjoy it with her because I'm too hung up with my own emotions over my loss."

"Lightning, you lost a vital part of your life. You've defined yourself by this one factor for a long time," Sally said. "You basically lost a best friend."

"That's exactly how I feel," Lightning said hoarsely. "It's just really hard."

"I know, Sweetie," Sally said. "Do you want me to fly over so you can have some company?"

"No," Lightning said. "You have too much going on to leave right now."

"I do have a lot," Sally admitted. "But not enough to keep me from coming to see you if you need me."



"I'm fine," Lightning said. "I already feel better about it," he lied. "But I have to go. Thanks for calling."

"No problem," Sally said. "I love you."

"I love you too," Lightning said, hanging up the phone.

That Sunday, Lightning woke up to the noise of the grandstand. 

He drove out of his trailer and saw that the stands were completely full already. When Lightning checked the time, he was shocked to find it was twelve-thirty.

He found Doc and Rayne at the pitt area getting ready for the start of the race. 

"Why didn't you guys wake me up?" Lightning asked, still slightly groggy. 

"No reason to really," Doc said, making sure the intercom system was functioning properly. 

"Oh, thanks," Lightning said, feeling more and more left out by the second. He felt even more useless than the new usual.

"No offense or anything," Rayne added. "You've been in a funk lately. We thought some sleep would do you some good."

Lightning nodded but did not say anything else.

"All racers to the track!" the loudspeaker called. 

"Well, I'll see you two later!" Rayne said, grinning competitively. 

"Good luck, Kiddo," Doc said. "You'll do great."

"Be safe, Hun," Lightning added.

"Will do," Rayne said, heading out onto the track.

All of the racecars on the track lined up in their given positions and the green flag was dropped. The layout of the race unfolded as it usually did, with Storm and Hollister up front, Rayne tailing them closely. The rest of the cars were in a pack about one hundred feet behind Rayne's bumper.

"I'm glad it's a short race," Doc said into the intercom system. 

Rayne made a reply and Doc chuckled. "One step at a time, Kiddo," he replied.

"What did she say?" Lightning asked.

"She said she wants to sprint the whole thing and beat Storm here and now." 



"That sounds like her," Lightning said. 

One hundred and fifty laps later, Rayne pulled in for a pitt stop. She was filled with gas and her tires were changed in a matter of seconds. She shot out onto the track in pursuit of Storm and Hollister immediately. 

"Good pitt, guys," Doc said to Luigi, Guido, and Fillmore. 

Back on the track, the laps were going by quickly. All three of the leaders had picked up speed, and with twenty laps left of the race, Rayne shot up, making her move.

"Come on, Kid, use the move," Doc murmured. "You remember how. Just do it."

Rayne drove up behind Storm and started passing him to the left. Storm quickly blocked to the left.

Rayne threw her weight to the right and shot around Storm before he realized what happened. She shot past Hollister and took the lead.

The crowd roared, recognizing Lightning's old move immediately. 

"Great job, Kiddo!" Doc exclaimed. "Go for the big finish!"

Rayne accelerated to well over two hundred miles per hour and took the last laps of the race flying solo. She finished a quarter of a lap ahead of Hollister and Storm.

"Awesome job, Rookie!" Doc raved when Rayne drove up. "Nobody could have done that better!"

Lightning's tank lurched at Doc's words. The rest of the scene unfolded oddly in front of Lightning. Nobody seemed to recognize that he was there. When the McQueen racing crew and the media left to celebrate, Lightning turned away and drove back to the trailers. 

**A/N: Okay, I hope that was a good chapter. I can't express how bad I feel about the lack of updates recently..I'm seriously going to try to get back on board with this. I can't promise anything, but updates should definitely come faster than they have been.**

**And reviews always make me update faster. I feel as though people are actually reading this and like it ******


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Sorry, sorry, sorry, SORRY!! I know it's been a billion years since I updated. One reason it took so long was that I misplaced my journal that I wrote the story in :-/…also, sorry about the formatting issues in the last chapter. I can't seem to fix it either...sorry! The formatting messed up when I entered a scene break, so I'm trying a different strategy now. I hope it works! Anyway, here's chapter 10! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: **All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Lightning drove back to the trailers and up into his personal one. He almost turned on the television but he knew they would be covering a story on Rayne's victory. Lightning knew he was being dramatic and selfish about everything over the past five days. He felt awful, but he also felt lost in an unfamiliar world. Lightning was never the type to sit around and watch others race; he was active and needed excitement in his life to keep going and his twenty mile morning exercises were not cutting it.

"Dad?"

Lightning snapped back to attention. The last car who he wanted to talk to was waiting outside of his trailer. Lightning did not have an excuse for his sudden departure, and the fact that he was going to have to confess his feelings to his daughter humiliated him.

Lightning lowered the ramp to his trailer and rolled down slowly, frantically contemplating what to say.

"Hey, Hun," Lightning said, plastering the fake grin on his face again.

"Hey," Rayne said, not returning the unpleasant smile. "Why aren't you at the party with us?"

Lightning was about to lie and say he was not feeling well, but he stopped himself. He was silent, trying to figure out how to tell his daughter what he was feeling. The whole situation made him feel childish as if Rayne was the parent and he was the child.

"Dad?" Rayne asked expectantly.

"I miss racing," Lightning said, his engine pumping as if he just got out of the Dinoco 400. "Badly."

Rayne processed the information slowly. "I should have seen this coming," she said faintly. "I've been so selfish and showy. I'm so sorry, Dad."

"It's not your fault, Rayne," Lightning said quickly. "There is no way any of this is your fault. I'm being selfish. I had twenty years of racing. It's just going to take time for me to adjust. That's all."



Rayne looked at Lightning for a moment, trying to figure out what to say. "If you want to come out of retirement, you can," she said, her eyes tearing up at the thought.

"No way," Lightning said promptly. "I've had my time. It's your turn how. It's going to take some adjustments on my part. That's all."

"If you're sure," Rayne said, not looking convinced.

"I'm positive," Lightning said, smiling honestly for the first time in a while. "Now, let's get to that party."

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The next day, Lightning rolled out of his trailer into bright Florida sunshine. He grimaced at the intensity of the sunlight and lowered his sunglasses over his windshield.

"About time you woke up," Doc said, throwing a sideways glance at Lightning.

"It's only seven," Lightning said, defensively, a grin spreading across his face. "Where's Rayne?"

"She's being lazy too," Doc replied.

"Se did a lot of hard work yesterday," Lightning said. "She deserves to sleep in a little."

"I know," Doc said. He looked hesitant before adding, "She's been hanging out with a new boy."

Lightning's tank lurched uncomfortably. He did not need a replay of the Storm fiasco. "When you say hanging out…"

"Just talking to him," Doc answered. "He's in her classes and they park next to each other and they were with each other at the after party yesterday afternoon."

"Only talking, right?" Lightning asked warily.

"Yeah," Doc said. "I would have said something if it had been anything more than that."

"Good," Lightning said.

"We need to discuss something else though," Doc said.

"What?" Lightning asked.

"I want you to start being a co-crew chief," Doc said.

"Doc, we've discussed this," Lightning sighed. "I don't want to do it. I don't want to mess her up."

"You wouldn't mess her up!" Doc said heatedly. "You're track smart. You've watched enough racing to know what to look out for."



"Doc, please don't do this," Lightning said in a low voice. "You know this business so much better than I do. Please don't pressure me into doing it."

Doc sighed but did not press the argument any further.

Lightning knew he could probably be an okay crew chief, but he knew cars could get hurt from a bad one. Crew chiefs had to be able to see several seconds ahead of the racecar, and Lightning was unsure if he could see in the future and present at the same time.

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Rayne did not wake up until ten-thirty. She rolled down her ramp, yawning and lowering her sunglasses just like Lightning had.

"Good morning," she said groggily.

"Hey, Hun," Lightning replied. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," Rayne said. "You have to have slept well when you fall asleep in a northeastern state and wake up in Florida."

Lightning laughed. "That's true," he said.

"Yeah," Rayne said. "Am I going out onto the track today?"

"I was going to give you the day off," Doc said. "You had a hard day yesterday."

"Okay," Rayne said. "I am pretty tired."

"That's fine," Doc said.

"So, Rayne, who is this new boy you were hanging out with at the party yesterday?" Lightning asked lightly, or at least what he hoped was lightly. In reality, his motor was pumping very quickly in his hood.

"Oh, Eric?" Rayne asked.

"I don't know his name," Lightning said.

"Is he smallish and dark blue?" Rayne asked.

Lightning, who had never even seen Eric, glanced over to Doc, who nodded discretely.

"Yeah, that's him," Lightning said.

"He's only a friend," Rayne said. "For real," she added when Lightning gave her a suspicious look. "He's one of the racing board members' sons."



"Is he new?" Lightning asked.

"Yeah," Rayne replied. "His first day was a week ago."

Lightning nodded. "Is he a nice kid?"

"Yeah," Rayne replied. "Probably one of the nicest I've ever met. He's really shy, but he's starting to open up a little."

Lightning nodded again. "I'm glad you found a friend," he said.

"Me too," Rayne said.

Rayne had not forged any close friendships with her classmates over the past year. Once she and Storm broke up, most of the other cars in her class sided with Storm. This left Rayne companionless, which worried Lightning.

"So does Eric race in any leagues?" Lightning asked.

"No," Rayne replied. "He doesn't like racing much. His father tried to force racing on him when he was younger and it made him dislike it a lot."

Lightning nodded. "Is he just not athletic?"

"He's very athletic," Rayne responded. "He just doesn't like racing."

"Okay," Lightning replied.

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The next morning, Lightning woke up as Doc and Rayne were leaving for the track. He followed his former crew chief and daughter to the track and parked next to Doc as Rayne went out onto the track to start her warm-up.

"What is she doing today?" Lightning asked.

Doc jumped, not realizing Lightning had parked next to him. "Endurance," he replied shortly.

"Oh, okay," Lightning said, slightly surprised by Doc's gruff tone. "Is everything okay?"

Doc did not respond. He stared out to the track where Rayne was gliding over the track with apparent ease.

"Okay, Rookie," Doc said into his headset. "Go ahead and pick up some speed. I want to see how many laps you can do at top speed."



Lightning watched the results of Doc's command on the track. Rayne picked up a good amount of speed to where she appeared to be a black and blue blur.

"Good," Doc said. "Keep it there and see how many laps you can do at that speed."

"You're going to be here a while," Lightning said jokingly.

Doc glanced over to Lightning but did not say anything. That made Lightning feel very uncomfortable. He mumbled something about eating breakfast and drove away.

As he did so, Lightning had no intention of eating breakfast. He had not eaten breakfast for years. Lightning was on his way to call Sally. He had a feeling Sally would know how to handle the situation with Doc.

Lightning sped around the corner of the administration building, nearly colliding with a small dark blue car.

"Sorry," Lightning said immediately swerving around the car.

"Sorry," the small blue car said at the same time. He glanced up to Lightning and his eyes became large. "You're Lightning McQueen," he said, nearly tripping over his tongue.

Lightning grinned. "I am," he said. "What's your name?"

"Eric. Eric Porter," the car returned. "I know your daughter."

"I know," Lightning said, making the connection. "Rayne speaks very highly of you."

Eric grinned bashfully. "Thank you, Sir," he said. "Rayne is great. She's the only car in school that recognizes my existence."

Lightning laughed. "She said the same thing about you."

Eric smiled shyly. "She's more popular than I am. I have to meet my dad though. It was good meeting you, Mr. McQueen."

"Call me Lightning," Lightning said, smiling warmly. "I'll see you around, Eric."

"Okay, Mr. McQue- I mean Lightning," Eric said, heading off in the opposite direction.

Lightning continued his mad-dash to his trailer. He lowered the ramp and drove up into his trailer. Lightning pressed his number two speed dial on his trailer phone and the phone started ringing.

"Hello?" asked a very groggy Sally McQueen.

"Oh, hey," Lightning said. "I forgot about the time difference. Sorry!"

"Don't worry about it," Sally said, sounding as if she was still asleep. "What's up?"



"Doc is driving me insane!" Lightning exclaimed. "One day he's happy as he can be, and the next he acts as if he's going to rip my head off."

"He's always been moody, Lightning," Sally said.

"Believe me, I know," Lightning said, emitting a bark-like laugh. "I know, but this is different. On the good days he laughs and has a great time with Rayne and me, but on the bad days he's antisocial and no matter what I say, it's wrong."

"Just ask him if everything is okay," Sally said. "For all we know, he's having a rough time right now. He doesn't exactly share a lot of information."

"That's true," Lightning said. "Maybe I'll do that then."

"Good," Sally said. "I'm glad I could help."

"You definitely helped," Lightning said. "I'm sorry I woke you up, Babe."

"Don't worry about it," Sally said. "I like hearing your voice no matter what time it is."

"Same to you," Lightning said. "But go back to sleep. I love you."

"I love you too," Sally said.

Lightning hung up the phone and sighed. He hated confrontation, but he also knew what he had to do."

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Later that day, Lightning rolled out of his trailer to see Doc reading the newspaper.

"Hey," Lightning said, rolling across camp to park across from Doc.

Doc glanced up from his newspaper. He did not say anything, but Lightning thought it was good that Doc recognized his presence.

"Is everything okay?" Lightning asked, feeling an uncomfortable feeling settling down upon them.

"Why?" Doc asked suspiciously.

"You've just seemed unhappy lately," Lightning said. "Some days you seem perfectly happy, but others you seem really unhappy and angry."

"I'm fine," Doc shrugged.

"Are you sure?" Lightning asked.



"Yeah," Doc said in a dangerous tone. "I wish you would start being my co-crew chief though."

"Is that what all of this has been about?" Lightning asked, unpleasantly surprised.

"I'm not saying that," Doc said. "I'm saying you need to start thinking about doing it."

"Doc!" Lightning exclaimed. "I have told you my point of view on that! Please respect my decision."

"It's not a respectable decision!" Doc said angrily.

"Maybe it isn't!" Lightning said, "but that doesn't change my final ruling. Whether you agree with it or not is beyond the point. I do not want to place my daughter into an inexperienced crew chief's eye."

Doc turned back to his newspaper and did not say another word to Lightning.

Lightning sighed and drove away. He felt as though he should have known that the conversation would be pointless.

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"Good luck, Honey," Lightning said as Rayne headed out onto the track.

"Thanks, Dad," Rayne said. "And try to make up with Doc, okay?"

"We'll see," Lightning said. "Don't think about that out there though. Just think about racing, okay?"

"Okay," Rayne said, driving away.

Lightning turned around and parked in his usual spot next to Doc's podium, although it did not seem usual. Whenever he came within twenty feet of his former crew chief, he could not help but feel awkward.

"Are you ready, Kiddo?" Doc asked into his headset.

There was a pause before he said, "Good. Stay that way and you'll be set."

Lightning gathered that Rayne was calm, collected, and ready to race. That was good; a calm mindset would help her throughout the race.

The race started off well. The setup was typical; Hollister and Storm leading, followed by Rayne, and then the rest of the pack. Rayne held her place for two hundred and fifty laps before she took her pit stop.

"Great job out there, Kiddo," Doc said, nodding in a approving fashion.



"Thanks!" Rayne said, shooting away as soon as her gas tank was full.

The next two hundred and forty laps went smoothly. There were several wrecks but they did not involve any major contenders and there were no injuries.

"Okay, Rookie," Doc said into his headset. "Start making your move."

Lightning watched Rayne shoot ahead towards the leaders. She was going well over two hundred miles per hour.

"Good job getting up to speed, Kiddo," Doc said approvingly. "I would go on the inside if I were you."

Rayne drifted to the inside of the track and shot around Hollister with ease.

"Great job, Kid!" Doc said, sounding very pleased.

Rayne pulled ahead of the leaders and stayed ahead for several laps.

Suddenly, Storm made his move and shot up next to Rayne. Rayne increased her speed, but Storm kept it coming. The teenagers swept into the last lap of the race hood-to-hood.

Lightning's engine was racing. There was no way to tell who was going to win at this point. Both cars had the skill to win, and it was dependent on who had the better lap.

Rayne and Storm roared through the first three turns, still even. It was impossible to distinguish who was winning.

Into the fourth turn, Rayne drove into the corner a little deeper. She shot out of it like a bullet. Lightning through for sure she would win.

But then Storm swerved in front of Rayne and braked right in front as she peaked in speed.

To avoid colliding, Rayne had to slam on brakes. Storm crossed the finish line two lengths ahead of Rayne.

"That was a cheap shot!" Lightning said angrily. Forgetting about all the bad feelings between he and Doc, Lightning turned to his former crew chief. "Is that legal?" he asked furiously.

"No," Doc said, obviously angry himself. "Even though it was a cheap shot, it was legal."

"Well at least Storm made himself look bad," Lightning said. "Most people will see how cheap the move was.

"Yeah," Doc said. "And if they don't realize it, they don't matter."

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Rayne was not incredibly upset about her loss to Storm. She realized how lame the move had been, and she knew the racing community would frown upon it.

But the move made Lightning nervous. To him, the move showed that Storm would do anything to win, no matter what the other cars thought. This could jeopardize Rayne's ranking in the circuit, or even her health. If a single thing went wrong, Storm could end up seriously injuring Rayne.

**A/N: Okay, that's a good note to end off on. The last paragraph wasn't foreshadowing (I'm being serious). No injuries for Rayne! Haha. Anyway, there are two chapters left of this. This will be my last fanfiction piece. I'm going on a terminal hiatus. I can't manage to update as much as usual (as you've noticed) and I feel bad about it.**

**But yeah, love it? Hate it? Let me know!!**

**And who else is excited about Cars 2?! I'm so ready for it! (Even though we have to wait till summer of 2012…ick)**

**REVIEW!!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: Okay, here's chapter eleven!! And I updated twice in ONE WEEK! Aren't you guys proud of me?! Anyway, enjoy, there's only one chapter after this one. I need more reviews, and I have the next chapter written already, so if you guys want the next chapter within a couple days, you have to review!! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Cars..or Cars 2 for that matter ******

Eventually, days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. Rayne was ranked second in the Piston Cup series behind Storm and Hollister was right behind her. The three were so closely ranked, the final rankings would depend on who won the Dinoco 400.

Unfortunately, Storm was still using cheap shots against Rayne, which is why he was ahead of her in points. Doc was trying to figure out a way for Rayne to pass Storm once he slammed on his breaks, but all plans had failed so far.

Lightning and Doc were getting along for the most part. Doc still had his mood swings, but Lightning left him along on the bad days.

Doc had been acting stranger than usual lately. He was sleeping in fairly regularly and was not as motivated as he usually was. Sally attributed it to Doc getting old, which was not a lie. Doc was nearly seventy-five.

One afternoon the Thursday before the Dinoco 400, Lightning and Sally were parked in a ray of sunshine. Sally was in town for the big race.

"So how is she handling the pressure for the race?" Sally asked.

"She's handling it," Lightning shrugged. "I can tell she's nervous, but she's taking it out on Eric so I'm not complaining."

Sally laughed. "So they still spend all their time with one another?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Lightning said. "I'm not complaining about that either. She's enjoying herself and he's enjoying himself too."

"Good," Sally said. "I'm glad she finally found a friend. What do you think her chances are on Sunday?"

Lightning had heard that question about fifty times over the past week. He honestly did not know the answer to the question.

"There's really no way to know," Lightning said. "It really depends on how the race unfolds. The only thing that really bothers me is her ability to get around Storm. He's pulling some cheap moves on her and causing her to lose."

"I've noticed," Sally said bitterly.



'"We'll figure something out," Lightning said.

"Have you and Doc been getting along?" Sally asked. "Have his mood swings stabilized at all?"

"Not really," Lightning said, "but I've learned to deal with him."

"Good," Sally said. "It sounds to me like life has been pretty good lately."

"It has," Lightning agreed.

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Lightning rolled out of his trailer the next morning at six. The circuit racers were taking the morning off so it allowed him time to do a workout.

Lightning drove out of the McQueen quarters and past the other trailers to the entrance of the track. He picked up some speed and warmed up at about seventy miles per hour. He enjoyed the autumn air as it flowed over his windshield. After several laps, he picked up some speed, ending up at about one hundred and eighty miles per hour. Lightning glided into the turns and out of them effortlessly. After a while, he picked up more speed, going a little over two hundred miles per hour.Before long, Lightning noticed Doc parked by the side of the track. Lightning slowed immediately to see what Doc needed.

"What's up?" Lightning asked.

"Just watching," Doc said. He grinned. "You've gotten slower."

"Slower?" Lightning scoffed playfully. In truth, he knew his times had probably slowed a good bit. "I'm not getting slower."

"I just watched you," Doc said. "You were slower than usual."

"You think you can do better?" Lightning challenged, grinning competitively.

"I know I can do better," Doc replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Then come on, Old Man," Lightning said, backing up a little and allowing Doc room to get on the track.

Doc hesitated for a moment.

"Are you scared?" Lightning badgered.

Doc rolled his eyes at the lack of maturity in Lightning's statement. He drove onto the track. "Twenty laps," he said. "Loser has to apply Mater's Rust-eze for him."

Lightning shuddered; he had to win this now. "Deal," he said. "On your mark, get set, GO!"



Both former racecars shot out onto the track. They were even for several laps before Lightning started inching ahead, though Doc was still in his peripheral vision.

It stayed that way for about seven more laps. Lightning was maxed out at about two hundred and twenty miles per hour, and Doc was keeping a pretty strong second.

Lightning had transferred to his racing mindset by that point. He was relying on sight and sound now.

All of a sudden, Lightning's surroundings changed. At first he could not tell what had changed, but then it hit him. He could no longer hear Doc's engine. He was flying solo.

Lightning grinned; he was going to have a lot of fun rubbing this in once Doc had to apply Mater's Rust-eze.

Lightning glanced behind himself and did not see Doc at all. He was making a killing! Lightning was beginning to think up clever ways to brag about his victory when he came to a horrible realization.

There, halfway down the stretch on the opposite side, was Doc; stationary in the middle of the track. Black smoke was pouring from Doc's hood.

"No!" Lightning shrieked. He pressed his accelerator as hard as he could and he flew around turns three and four and onto the long stretch.

"Doc!" Lightning yelled. He slammed on brakes, ignoring the burning on his tires from the friction.

Doc made no reply. Black smoke was still pouring from his hood. His eyes rolled back into his windshield and he was breathing in quick, shallow breaths.

Doc! Can you hear me?" Lightning yelled desperately.

Once again, Doc did not reply.

Lightning hastily pulled his phone out and called the track medics, who could transport Doc to the nearest hospital. After a year and a half of the phone ringing, the medic receptionist _finally_ answered the phone.

"This is Lightning McQueen," Lightning said breathlessly. "My crew chief, Doc Hudson is having an engine attack out on the track and I need an ambulance right now!"

"I'll dispatch one immediately," the receptionist said.

"Thanks," Lightning said, hanging up the phone. He turned back to Doc, who was still breathing heavily.



"Hang in there, Doc," Lightning said, realizing tears were streaming down his hood. "You're going to be fine. You'll be okay."

"Rookie?" Doc asked weakly, opening one eye into a squint.

"I'm here, Doc," Lightning said. "I'm so sorry, I should have never challenged you to the stupid race!" I'm sorry!"

"It's…not…your fault," Doc said, as if it was very painful to talk. "I s-shouldn't have r-raced."

"Don't talk, Doc," Lightning said. "Just relax. We're going to make you better."

Doc groaned slightly but made no effort to speak.

After what seemed like another grueling eternity, the ambulance arrived to take Doc to the hospital. By then, Doc was only semi-conscious. He was not reactive at all, and his eyes were glazed over.

"Are you going to follow us to the hospital, Sir?" one of the medics asked.

"Yeah," Lightning said. He followed the ambulance to the track exit and picked up speed when the ambulance turned its siren on and began its high-speed journey to the hospital.

Lightning pulled his cell phone out and dialed. The phone rang three times.

"Hello?"

"Sally, it's Lightning…"

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When Rayne woke up, she had an uncomfortable feeling in her tank. She could sense something was not right; that something had changed since she fell asleep the night before.

Unsettled by the awry feeling, Rayne lowered her ramp and rolled out into the brilliant Southern sunshine. The palm trees were moving slightly in the warm autumn breeze. When she glanced up, she realized there was not a cloud in the sky.

Rayne rolled down the ramp, looking from side to side as if she was frightened by her surroundings. The area was empty; her father and Doc were gone, and she suspected her mother was still asleep.

"Hey."

Rayne shrieked. All four of her tires left the ground as she spun to see her attacker.

There, parked in front of her, was Eric.



"Oh my God you scared me," Rayne said, trembling slightly.

"Sorry," Eric said, smiling slightly. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Don't worry about it," Rayne said. "I was trying to figure out where everybody is."

"Your mom is talking on the phone about two trailers down," Eric said. "She didn't look happy."

Rayne frowned. "I wonder what's going on," she said as the uncomfortable feeling in her tank resurfaced. "My mom is never upset."

"Well here she comes," Eric said, gesturing with his tire to Sally's approaching figure.

Rayne turned around to see her mother approaching. She had an upset expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" Rayne asked immediately.

"That was your father on the phone," Sally said weakly. "He and Doc were racing this morning and Doc…Doc had an engine attack."

Rayne felt as though she had been hit by Mack. She was frozen to the spot as if her world had stopped the only thing moving were the tears on her hood.

"He _what_?" Rayne asked as terror flooded through her pipes. There was no way Doc had an engine attack. He was a fitness and health freak.

"Doc had an engine attack," Sally said, tears coming down her hood.

"Well is he okay?" Rayne asked, tears also coming down her hood, as if they were infectious.

"Nobody knows yet," Sally said, sniffing and trying to compose herself. "We have to go to the hospital."

Rayne nodded, too shocked to say anything else. For the first time in months, her thoughts were not on winning the Piston Cup. All she wanted to do was go to the hospital and make sure Doc was okay.

"Will you come?" she asked Eric, who was rooted to the ground from the shocking news.

Eric glanced at Sally, obviously contemplating on whether or not he was welcome.

"You can come," Sally said. "Doc thought very highly of you."

This was true. Six months previously, Rayne and Eric had gone out onto the track to work out, and the exercise quickly turned into a competition where Rayne and Eric roared around the track at top speed. There was not a specific finish line; the cars were not thinking that thoroughly. They continued racing blindly. Rayne thought for sure she would be faster than Eric, but she was surprised to find Eric had just as much strength, speed, and stamina as she did.



After about seventy laps, Rayne noticed Doc sitting on the side of the track.

"Crap!" Rayne said. With the spirited competition Eric presented, Rayne had forgotten she was only supposed to do a light workout to keep her limber. She knew Doc was going to kill her.

On the contrary, when Rayne and Eric drove up to Doc, he did not seem unhappy. He was smiling slightly.

"I didn't know you had it in you, Kid," Doc said, looking at Eric. "Not many cars can keep up with her."

"Thank you, Sir," Eric said, not making full eye contact.

From that moment on, Doc liked Eric a lot and Eric became Rayne's training partner.

Rayne then snapped back to the harsh reality.

"We're going to have to leave now," Sally said. "I think your father is having a hard time with all of this."

Rayne nodded. "Okay," she said.

The drive to the hospital took fifteen minutes. Fifteen of the longest, most grueling minutes ever for Rayne. She was following her mother and was being followed by Eric. The pace was hurried and frantic as Rayne thought about how Doc was. She knew engine attacks could range from being very minor to fatal, and she could only hope it was minor.

Once the cars finally reached the hospital, they were sent to a waiting room. They learned Lightning was in the room with Doc. He would come talk to them when there was definite news.

Rayne could not help but let tears run down her hood. Doc was a second father; a surrogate grandfather on Lightning's side because his father passed away before she was born. She did not know what she would do it Doc died. Rayne knew she would be lost without him.

Rayne felt a slight pressure from her right side. She glanced over to see Eric rubbing away a tear from her side.

"It'll be okay," he said lowly.

"I hope so," Rayne said.

The three cars sat in the waiting room for hours. Rayne paced across the room seventy-six times before Sally told her to stay still. She then moved back to her spot between her mother and Eric, where she could not stop fidgeting.

After another half hour, Rayne felt strangely fatigued, as if her crying drained all of the energy she had. Although she tried to stop it, the exhaustion eventually overtook her and she fell asleep.



An undefined amount of time later, Rayne woke up. She was nestled up against Eric, who was awake and staring blankly at the plain white walls of the hospital.

Rayne glanced at the clock. It was two in the afternoon. Rayne, Eric, and Sally had been waiting for five hours.

Fifteen minutes later, Lightning appeared rolling down the hallway. His eyes were red from crying, but that did not necessarily mean anything. Rayne straightened up from leaning against Eric and rolled forward.

"What's going on?" Rayne asked once her father arrived. "Is Doc okay?"

Lightning glanced at Sally and then back to Rayne and Eric. "Doc-" he cleared his throat. "D-Doc had a grade four engine attack. H-he died twenty minutes ago."

**Author's Note: If you want to know the rest, review…**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: And we pick up from here...**

**Disclaimer: For the last time (literally) I don't own Cars.**

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_Fifteen minutes later, Lightning appeared rolling down the hallway. His eyes were red from crying, but that did not necessarily mean anything. Rayne straightened up from leaning against Eric and rolled forward._

_"What's going on?" Rayne asked once her father arrived. "Is Doc okay?"_

_Lightning glanced at Sally and then back to Rayne and Eric. "Doc-" he cleared his throat. "D-Doc had a grade four engine attack. H-he died twenty minutes ago."_

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The world stopped. The hands on the clock ceased all movement and nobody was functioning. A world without Doc was unfathomable. There would be no world without him.

Rayne was only halfway aware of her mother throwing herself onto her father, sobbing hysterically. She halfway heard Eric say "No!" but she almost felt as though it was a figment of her imagination.

Suddenly, Rayne snapped out of her fantasy. Back in the real world, Doc was gone. He suffered a grade four heart attack, just as her father had two years before she was born, but unlike Lightning, Doc lost the fight. It could not be true.

"No," Rayne said, an overwhelming, unknown feeling encasing her. Tears started pouring down her hood. "No, no, no, no! Doc isn't dead," she said to her father, her eyes narrowed. "There's no way he's dead. He was fine yesterday!"

Lightning shook his head, obviously trying to overcome the tears that were fighting to spill down his hood. "I'm sorry, Rayne," he said, his voice hoarse and cracking slightly. "He was diagnosed with an engine condition last spring. The doctors said that was the reason for his mood swings. Apparently the fuel they had him on can cause them."

"They why would he race you?" Rayne asked, desperately scavenging for a loop hole in which to prove that Doc was really alive and Lightning was lying.

"I don't know," Lightning said, tears beginning to stream down his hood again. "I guess he thought it would be okay."

"No," Rayne repeated, the tears becoming heavier. She started to sob desperately, realizing that there was no way to prove that Lightning wrong; that yes, Doc was truly dead.



Sobs wracked from deep within her soul from the grief of losing one of her closest companions. She sobbed and sobbed, leaning into Eric, who used his tire to stroke her comfortingly. Rayne grasped to him as if he was saving her from a deep existential pit which would consume her for the rest of her existence.

Rayne was only semi-aware of Eric bracing her when Lightning called her.

Blinded by her tears, she rolled up to her father, really guided by his red outline.

"Yes?" Rayne asked nasally.

"He wanted me to tell you a couple things," Lightning said, sniffing and trying to push the tears away.

"Dad, I really don't know if I can hear this right now," Rayne sobbed.

"You need to hear this," Lightning said seriously. His electric blue eyes stared into the ones that mirrored his own.

"Okay," Rayne said, summoning the strength she needed to hear what Lightning had to say. She took a deep breath, calming herself enough to listen.

"First, h-he wanted to tell you what a great racecar you are," Lightning said, hardly able to get the words out before letting out a fresh sob.

"Dad, I d-don't think I can hear this right now," Rayne sobbed, desperately gasping for breath.

"And he wanted to tell you that if you even c-consider scratching from the r-race Sunday, he'll haunt you forever."

Rayne had forgotten all about the race two days away. It seemed so meaningless at the given moment.

"Who will be my c-crew chief?" Rayne asked, not wanting to think about racing without Doc as her commander.

"That's where my personal threats come in," Lightning said. "I'm to be your crew chief, and if I don't, Doc said he would hunt me down and drag me with him."

Though Rayne did not smile, she let out a quick laugh. "That sounds like him."

"He was serious too," Lightning added. "I suggest you follow his directions."

"I know better than to disobey him," Rayne said, letting out a small sob. "Believe me, I know."



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The next morning, Lightning woke up with a strange empty feeling. He immediately knew where the feeling was coming from. Tears were quick to come to his eyes as he recollected on the previous day's events. The tears spilled over his eyes, down his hood, and onto the floor of his trailer. He glanced over to his rows of trophies and saw the picture of he and Doc after Lightning's first win under Doc's leadership. Doc looked elated; he was grinning from ear to ear, and Lightning looked exhausted, but happy nonetheless. Doc's liveliness in the photo haunted Lightning; how could someone look to alive, even on photo paper, and then be dead?

Lightning forced himself to look away from the photograph.

"Hey," Sally said from in front of Lightning.

"Hey," Lightning replied.

"You don't look like you slept at all last night," Sally said. Her eyes were watering.

"I got about forty-five minutes of sleep," Lightning said hoarsely. He held back a sob. Doc had been a constant figure for him for the past twenty years. They had traveled all over the country, conquering everyone who opposed them. Doc saved his life, healed him when he was broken. Nothing would ever be the same again.

Sally drove up to Lightning and kissed him. "He wouldn't want you to grieve."

"I know," Lightning said. "He'd probably make fun of me for it come to think of it, but I can't help it. He was all but my father."

"I know," Sally said, wiping a tear from Lightning's hood. "It's normal."

Thirty minutes later, Lightning composed himself and left the trailer. He found himself face-to-face with the Piston Cup president, Bill Thorpe.

"Mr. Thorpe!" Lightning said with surprise. In his twenty years on the track, he had only met the car twice.

"How are you feeling?" Thorpe asked.

"Fine," Lightning shrugged. He did not want to break down in front of the most important car on the Piston Cup circuit, especially because it was unlikely the car knew Doc was dead. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, you were spotted racing after an ambulance yesterday, but the press, and everybody else for that matter, have no clue why, and the press requested you made a release about it. Would you be willing?"



Lightning hesitated. I knew he would need to announce Doc's death to the racing world, but announcing it would make it so final.

"I can do that," Lightning decided, just wanting to get it over with.

"They're waiting for you at the podium in victory lane when you're ready," Thorpe said. "Thank you, Lightning."

"No problem, Mr. Thorpe," Lightning said. He turned around to look at Sally, who was parked halfway down the ramp.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" she asked.

"As ready as I'm even going to be," Lightning said. "I want to be the one to tell everyone versus the wrong person."

"I understand," Sally replied.

"I'm going ahead over there," Lightning said. "You don't have to come if you don't want to."

He sighed and drove towards the ever-so-familiar victory lane. It was there where he had accepted his numerous Piston Cups with Doc right alongside him. The happy memories morphed into sad ones in a split second.

Lightning drove up onto the podium and looked down upon the many reporters with their voice recorders, cameras, and notepads. He took a deep breath and told the world the dire news.

"Yesterday morning, my former crew chief, Doc Hudson, and I went for a workout. Part of the way through, Doc suffered a grade four engine attack and he died yesterday afternoon."

The crowed started murmuring and questions started flying at Lightning.

"Mr. McQueen, how will this affect Rayne racing tomorrow?" a reporter asked.

"It won't," Lightning said. He felt drained and emotionless by talking about Doc's death to people who did not truly know or care about Doc. "One of the last things he said to me was 'Your daughter is going to race on Sunday whether I'm there or not.'"

The crowed murmured again, writing down Lightning's words.

"Who will be Rayne's crew chief?" another reporter asked.

"I am," Lightning said. "Doc has been asking me to co-crew chief for a while now, so it's time for me to step up and do it."

The press release lasted thirty more minutes. After several more questions, Lightning backed down the ramp and saw Sally parked ten feet away.



"Hey," she said.

"Hey," Lightning replied. He still felt drained and emotionless, as if he could not give off any emotion, even including sorrow at the moment. He was tired but could not sleep; he was grieving but couldn't cry. He hated the twisted world he was trapped in.

"I know that was hard to do," Sally said. "I'm proud of you."

"It had to be done," Lightning replied monotonously. "People would have been asking questions anyway."

"I know," Sally said. "But it was hard for you."

Lightning shrugged. He did not feel like talking to anyone at the moment. He wanted to be alone to think. Lightning was tired of being lost in the new unfamiliar territory he existed in, and he needed to find his way through it on his own.

"I'm going on a drive," Lightning said, heading away from Sally towards the exit of the speedway.

"Do you want me to come?" Sally asked.

"I think I want to be alone for a while," Lightning said dully. "Thanks for the offer though. I appreciate your support, Sal."

With that, Lightning drove away from his wife and out of the International Speedway of the South. He needed time to himself; one last time alone to mourn before he had to man-up. He knew just the place to go.

Lightning drove an hour out of the city to the countryside. A large hill looked up on rolling fields where tractors grazed lazily. Lightning parked under a large oak tree on top of the hill. He glared angrily at the brilliant blue sky with fluffy white clouds dancing merrily across it. He felt as though the weather was contradictory to every emotion he was feeling at the time. If he had his choice, it would be tempestuous with charcoal gray clouds. Bolts of lightning and claps of thunder would go off every few moments and the raindrops would mingle with his tears.

But no. Of course not. This worsened Lightning's mood, if that was possible. Tears ran down his face as he thought of how easily the attack could have been prevented. If he had not been stubborn and made Doc race, he would still be alive and together, they could be figuring out how to calm Rayne down for her race the next day. Instead of crying in her trailer, Rayne would be pacing back and forth, driving everyone insane. Instead of making funeral arrangements, Sally would be spending time with her family and enjoying a break from all the work she had to do back at home.

It did not seem fair to anyone, especially not to Doc. Although he was older in years than the cars that usually surrounded him, he was just as young at heart. He seemed so full of life. It was not fair.



Lightning sighed and leaned against the tree. He was exhausted. Crying alone made him tired, but along with getting virtually no sleep and getting up fairly early, he was about to die.

Only a couple minutes after leaning against the tree, Lightning drifted into unconsciousness.

Five hours later, Lightning work up, slightly disoriented. He quickly regained his surroundings and drove forward, stretching his sore wheel axle.

Lightning welcomed the pain that was coming from the axle. It was one of the only constant or familiar elements in his life at the moment. Anything that was familiar was welcome, but anything that exposed him to change could stay away, preferably for the rest of his life.

After one more hour of grieving, Lightning wiped away the rest of his tears and drove back to the track, feeling ready to be strong for his daughter.

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Once he returned to the track, Lightning informed Sally he was back. Then he went in search of Rayne.

It did not take him long to find her. She was next to her trailer with Eric, sobbing into his side as he comforted her. He looked morose as well, but he apparently knew it was not his time to lament.

"Hey," Lightning said softly, driving up to the two teenagers.

Eric looked up and gave a weak smile. Rayne also looked up but did not smile. The way she looked described the way Lightning felt: depressed, confused, and lost.

"We need to talk," Lightning said, looking at Rayne.

Eric backed away, obviously feeling unwelcome.

"No, stay, Eric," Lightning said. "You're just as much family now as Doc was."

Eric stopped moving and looked at Lightning uncertainly.

"Now, Rayne," Lightning said. "It's going to be hard to race two days after all of this, but Doc specifically told me to tell you to race, and I think it's only right to do it. Do you agree?"

"Of course," Rayne said, sniffing.

"Good," Lightning said. "I think we need to go out on the track now and take a couple of laps just to warm you back up and warm me up to the idea of being a crew chief."

"I agree," Rayne said.



"Then let's get to it," Lightning said, smiling for the first time since the death of his surrogate father.

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The next day, Lightning woke up at ten. He drove out of his trailer and into another bright day. He lowered his sunglasses and saw that Rayne was already awake. She was reading a book and sipping on a can of fuel.

"Morning," Lightning said.

"Morning," Rayne replied.

"How are you feeling?" Lightning asked.

"I should be the one asking that question," Rayne said.

"I'm okay," Lightning said. This was actually the truth. Sure, he was incredibly sad, just like a good proportion of the racing community, and probably a good amount more than that, but there were things on the agenda other than mourning, and the Piston Cup was one of them. It proved as a good distraction.

Two and a half hours later, Lightning put on his headphones and drove up onto Doc's podium. He was shaking from hood to bumper; he was unbelievably nervous of doing this. If he caused Rayne to wreck, he could never forgive himself.

Much to Lightning's relief, the race went off without a problem. He found that being a crew chief was not as hard as one may think; in fact, it made him feel more in control, and that brought an unexpected comfort.

"How are you holding up, Rayne?" Lightning asked after one hundred laps.

"Pretty good," Rayne replied. "How far is the pack behind me?"

"Far," Lightning said. "About eleven lengths or so."

"Good," Rayne said.

The remainder of the race went off without a hitch. Even though Lightning was still tense about his new position, he was beginning to relax a bit.

"I think you need to start moving up a little," Lightning said when there were twenty laps left. "It'll get you in a better position when you make your move."

"Okay," Rayne said.



Out on the track, Rayne visibly inched up onto Hollister and Storm, who were in their customary spots.

"Good," Lightning said. "Go ahead and go in for the kill."

"Okay," Rayne said. "If Storm and I get into our usual speed duel, what am I supposed to do to get ahead of him?"

Lightning's tank lurched. He had forgotten to come up with a solution to that problem. All of the confidence he gained over the past three hundred and ninety laps was suddenly gone.

"I don't know," Lightning said, panicking.

"Don't worry," Rayne said. "I have an idea that might work."

"What is it?" Lightning asked.

"You'll see," Rayne responded.

On the track, Rayne quickly passed both Storm and Hollister on the inside.

"Great job!" Lightning said, grinning at his daughter's accomplishment. He was still nervous about her plan; he would like to be informed of it before she actually performed it, but Doc would have trusted her, and he would too.

"Thanks," Rayne said. She surged ahead of the other two competitors.

After several seconds, Storm let his speed loose. He roared after Rayne, obviously in it to win the Piston Cup and to become the first rookie to win the cup.

Storm eventually caught up with Rayne. The two engaged in their usual speed battle all the way into the last lap.

At this point, Lightning was about to pass out. His engine was running faster than it ever had before and he could not think clearly enough to speak.

Rayne and Storm swept through the first turn the same way they always did, and then they swept into the second turn where Rayne seemed to lose some ground. Lightning's tank lurched; faltering like that could cause her to lose the race.

Then suddenly, Rayne shot out of the turn like a slingshot. She had used her turn four move in turn two and taken Storm by surprise. She passed her rival instantly and swept through the third and fourth turns by herself, winning the Piston Cup by ten lengths.

"YES!" Lightning yelled. "You did it! You're amazing!"

Rayne was sobbing and nothing she said could be understood, but Lightning understood her feeling.



The crowd was roaring and cheering louder than Lightning had ever heard it before. He backed off of the podium, kissed his wife jubilantly, and then went to meet his daughter.

Rayne got off the track, sobbing harder than Lightning had ever seen her before, and lately he had seen a good amount of tears shed. He engulfed her in a huge hug.

"I'm so proud of you," he said quietly to where nobody else could hear. "Doc would be too."

"Th-thanks," Rayne said shakily.

"You have to make a speech," Lightning said, looking up to see everyone staring at them.

"I'm going," Rayne said, going up to the podium. She approached the microphone and began to speak.

"I'm not going to say much because I don't think I can," Rayne said, laughing slightly as tears ran down her face. "First, I'd like to thank my parents for all their support and advice. Secondly, I would like to thank my best friend, Eric Porter, who is always there for me. But I'm accepting this Piston Cup in the name of Doc Hudson, my former crew chief, who passed away two days ago. He always had advice to help me succeed." She choked on a sob. "And without him, I would have never gotten to be here accepting a Piston Cup."

Lightning watched his daughter, the first rookie and female to win the Piston Cup, deliver her speech, and he could not help but shed a couple tears. She had worked so hard for this moment.

Lightning knew that nothing would ever be the same again without Doc, but that did not mean the McQueen legacy could not continue with Rayne as the frontrunner.

**End Notes: I hope that was a good enough ending for the trilogy! It really saddens me that it's over but it also gives me a sense of great accomplishment. I have been working on these stories for two years now. I would like to thank all of my wonderful reviewers throughout the story. I'd like to give thanks to my anonymous reviewer, Ted, who reviewed every chapter and gave good advice and compliments. I'm thanking you here because I cannot give you review replies when you review. Anyway, I enjoyed myself thoroughly and I hope you guys enjoyed every moment of it as much as I did! Please review to tell me how you liked the ending. Thank you! You guys are amazing!**


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